Teams hope for full game in series finale

Match facts

	AB de Villiers may return after sitting out the Durban match © AFP  Enlarge
Related Links Matches: South Africa v Australia at Centurion Series/Tournaments: Australia tour of South Africa Teams: Australia | South Africa

March 14, 2014
Start time 1800 (1600GMT)

Big picture

Centurion is a long way from Chittagong but it is the last place South Africa and Australia will meet before they go in search of a piece of ICC silverware neither has won before. It was also the first place they met on this tour, little more than four weeks ago.

Since then, Australia have announced their threat as a Test team by beating the top-ranked side in their own backyard; a man who served his country for 12 years and led them for 11 - Graeme Smith - retired; the two boards are in talks to lengthen future Test series to four matches and a T20 series that seemed destined to be washed out managed to squeeze in 14 overs in Durban. Both teams will want nothing less than another 20 overs as they finalise their preparations for the World T20.

As much as that tournament will be at the back of both camps' minds, so will the competitive streak between both sides. It doesn't matter what the occasion, these teams manage to bring out the best and worst in each other. It took only an hour of intensity at Kingsmead to prove that.

South Africa posted the highest seven-over total, which required Australia to score at almost two runs a ball to win. They managed, despite losing two wickets in an over that went for just five runs. Despite the rain and the gimmicky nature of a shortened match, it was a contest worth watching and this one is expected to be no different.

Centurion is where it all started for Australia and is where it will end for both teams, until next time.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa LLWWW
Australia WWWWL

Watch out for

South Africa's finishers did not have the opportunity to get into the game at Kingsmead with the top three doing all the batting. Albie Morkel, in particular, will be anxious for crease time having not played international cricket for 18 months before doing only fielding duty in Durban. AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and David Miller will also want the opportunity to see how they can end innings off for South Africa.

Having only played the third Test, bowled one over in the second T20 and batted for 11 minutes Shane Watson will be keen to make his presence felt. With the news that he will captain Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and his own tough talk about his country's chances at the World T20, Watson will want to show he can also walk the walk before the tournament begins.

Team news

Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel are still in the final stages of recovery following injuries and are unlikely to feature for South Africa again. That will mean Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Wayne Parnell and Beuran Hendricks will share the bulk of the seam bowling duties with Kyle Abbott, who is not included in the World T20 squad, unlikely to feature. De Villiers could be back after being rested from the Durban match which will mean no place for Farhaan Behardien and South Africa may want to field a specialist spinner to give Imran Tahir game time before the big event.

South Africa: (likely) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis (capt), 4 AB de Villiers, 5 JP Duminy, 6 David Miller, 7 Albie Morkel, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Beuran Hendricks, 10 Lonwabo Tsotsobe, 11 Imran Tahir

Australia will not want to tinker too much with a batting line-up that has been rejigged to include David Warner and Watson. With Brad Hogg fit, there may not be room for another spinner in James Muirhead and Moises Henriques could also find himself on the sidelines again.

Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 George Bailey (capt), 6 Brad Hodge, 7 Brad Haddin (wk) 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Dan Christian, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Nathan Coulter-Nile

Pitch and conditions

With wet weather dominating the build-up, the pitch would have had to have been prepared under a tent and ever-present moisture could mean a tricky batting track. South Africa's Highveld has been hard hit by rain over the last two weeks, but Friday is forecast to stay dry, despite being cool and cloudy. There's a strong chance a full game will be played which will ensure the South African international summer ends on a high note.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa and Australia have played three two-match T20 series (which is effectively what this one has become) against each other in the past. They've each won one series with the most recent one, in 2011, being shared with one victory apiece
• SuperSport Park is the venue where the record for the highest first-wicket partnership in any T20 was achieved. Graeme Smith and Loots Bosman smashed 170 against England in November 2009 and managed that off just 13.1 overs

Veteran Hogg unlikely for second T20

At some point over the next few weeks, Brad Hoggshould become the oldest man to represent Australia in any format since Clarrie Grimmett. However, it seems Hogg will have to wait for his first international as a 43-year-old, with a tight hamstring likely to keep him on the sidelines for the second Twenty20 against South Africa in Durban on Wednesday.

The first match in Port Elizabeth was washed out without a ball being bowled and rain may again play havoc with the teams' World T20 preparation, with Durban's forecast far from ideal. If play is possible on Wednesday the Australians are unlikely to have Hogg in their side, while the allrounder James Faulkner is also unavailable as he continues his recovery from a knee problem.

Hogg has not played for Australia since the last World T20 in Sri Lanka in 2012 but the expected spinning conditions in Bangladesh for this year's tournament encouraged the selectors to take a punt on his experience. But a lengthy net session with spin coach Shane Warne and the rest of the slow bowlers in the squad in Cape Town has hurt his chances of playing in South Africa.

"It's a weird one. I can do everything except bowl," Hogg told AAP. "Every time I plant that front leg down, I can't get over there. But I'm glad it's happened now and not over in Bangladesh. If it was a big game - you'd take the medications and definitely would (play). But I think we're taking a conservative approach at the moment so I'm right for the World Cup.

"I was in awe of the king [Warne]. I wanted to make the most of the opportunity and I went for an hour and a half, which was probably too long."

Whenever Hogg does take the field he will not only be the oldest man ever to play a T20 international, he will also be Australia's oldest cricketer since Grimmett last played a Test in Durban in 1936. Grimmett was 44 when he last represented Australia.

If Hogg sits out of Wednesday's match as expected, it will leave the selectors with 13 men to choose from, with Faulkner being eased back ahead of the World T20. Faulkner picked up a knee injury during the one-day series against England in Australia in January but the team doctor Peter Brukner said he was hopeful Faulkner would be fit for Australia's first match at the World T20.

"The plan's never really been for him to play any of the matches here," Brukner said. "We don't want to rush him; he had significant surgery five weeks ago. He's a young guy. We don't want to jeopardise his long-term prospects, so we're taking him along very slowly.

"He's coming along very well. He bowled a little bit yesterday, did some running. We'll build him up over the next week or so, and the aim has always been to have him ready to play in Bangladesh."

Rain threat looms large in Durban

Match facts

March 12, 2014, Kingsmead, Durban

Start time 1800 (1600GMT)

Big Picture

There is less than two weeks to go before both these sides play their first match at the World T20, and they are facing the possibility of going into the tournament without much practice in the shortest format. The first match of the series was washed out and the forecast does not look promising for the next two.

That will leave both Australia and South Africa short of match-time ahead of a tournament neither have won, something which will concern South Africa more. Given the expectation thrust on them to bring home an ICC trophy, South Africa are doing all they can to refine their squad to ensure success. They need the time to have a trial run and experiment with some of the newer combinations they may have.

Australia may have less reasons to worry, having come off three T20I wins. They would want to have the time to find room for the players they have recalled and to have another opportunity to dent their old foe ahead of a major tournament.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first) 

South Africa LWWWL
Australia WWWLL

Watch out for

Albie Morkel will make a long awaited return to the South African XI after being out in the cold since the end of the 2012 World T20. Albie had a strong domestic season after taking an extended break from the game to rejuvenate himself and seems to have found a new lease on his cricketing life. He will be expected to finish the innings fast and contribute as a fourth seamer. Albie is thought to be South Africa's trump card as they aim for an ICC trophy.

After three centuries in the Test matches David Warner may have thought his South African trip could not get any better. But he has since proposed to Candice Falzon and revealed that they were expecting their first child. Warner will hope the good times keep rolling in. With his usual aggressive, carefree style of batting, he has bullied South Africa's bowlers all summer and, if the weather allows him to, he will want to do it again, albeit in a different format.

Team news

Dale Steyn was spotted strolling on the Sea Point promenade in Cape Town on Monday, confirming his unavailability until the final match. South Africa are yet to play a match with their new combinations which include Albie Morkel and Beuran Hendricks. The team will want to field both of them before heading to Bangladesh.

South Africa: (possible) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis (capt), 4 AB de Villiers, 5 JP Duminy, 6 David Miller, 7 Albie Morkel, 8 and 9 Wayne Parnell/Kyle Abbott/Beuran Hendricks, 10 Morne Morkel 10, 11 Imran Tahir

Brad Hogg may have to wait a little longer before becoming the oldest man to represent Australia since Clarrie Grimmett, because of a hamstring strain. James Faulkner is still being monitored as he makes his return.

Australia: (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Shane Watson, 4 George Bailey (capt), 5 Cameron White/Brad Hodge, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Daniel Christian, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 11 James Muirhead

Conditions

Rain has been sweeping across South Africa and Durban has not been spared. Although Wednesday morning is forecast to be clear, wet weather and strong winds are expected to arrive by the afternoon and continue into the evening, which could mean a curtailed affair. Despite the threat of a wet blanket, over 17,00 tickets have been sold for the match as the Durban public gear up for the last international of the summer.

Stats and Trivia

Warner and Shane Watson have each raised their bats to 10 half-centuries in T20 cricket, Australia's most number of fifties in the format. Contrastingly, South Africa have no players with 10 fifties, but JP Duminy (6) and AB de Villiers (4) have 10 between them.

The last time Kingsmead was scheduled to host a T20, last March, it was abandoned because of rain. South Africa were due to play Pakistan on that occasion.

Battle of fast bowlers in pace-friendly venue

They are currently the first and third-ranked teams in the ICC ratings, but recent results suggest they are the two best sides. South Africa are clearly the best team at the moment - they have won eight and drawn six of their last 14 series - but Australia are coming off a fearful hammering of England at home, and have been far more impressive than India, who are currently second in the ICC rankings. However, Australia will take that spot from India if they win the series by any margin; even a drawn series will suffice if India don't win the second Test against New Zealand and level the series. Moreover, Australia were the last team to win a series against South Africa, when they won 2-1 in South Africa in 2008-09.

The fact that the series is in South Africa makes it even spicier, given that Tests between the two countries in South Africa are rarely ever drawn. Since their readmission into international cricket, South Africa have played 17 Tests against Australia at home, of which only one has been drawn; on the other hand, six out of 18 Tests between these two teams have been drawn in Australia. The only drawn Test between these two teams during this period in South Africa was in 1994, which means the last 14 Tests here have all produced results.

No matter where they've played, though, Australia have had the upper hand, winning roughly two matches for every Test they've lost. Their batsmen have averaged almost 35 runs per wicket, and scored 19 centuries in 17 matches. South Africa have averaged 28.77 runs per wicket with the bat at home against Australia, and scored 11 hundreds; they've done better with the bat in Australia, averaging 32.92 runs per wicket.

South Africa v Australia Tests

	Tests	Aus won	SA won	Aus bat ave/ 100s	SA bat ave/ 100s
Overall, since 1992	35	19	9	37.44/ 46	30.87/ 26
In South Africa, since 1992	17	11	5	34.87/ 19	28.77/ 11

If it's a contest between these two sides, then the focus is always on the pace attacks, for that's always been the strength for both teams. Michael Clarke has announced that he feels Australia have the best pace attack in the world, but South Africa don't have a bad line-up either: Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn are the top two ranked bowlers, with Morne Morkel at No. 13. Australia have Ryan Harris at No. 3, Peter Siddle at No. 5 and Mitchell Johnson at No. 9. In the last three years, South Africa's fast bowlers have averaged 24.39 runs per wicket, compared to Australia's 26.70. Those are the two best averages among all teams, and the numbers indicate too that there's little to choose between the pace attacks of the two sides.

Moreover, these fast bowlers will have the added incentive of bowling in South Africa, where conditions have always favoured pace. In all Tests since the beginning of 2006, fast bowlers have averaged 28.87 in South Africa, the only country where they've averaged less than 30.

The best countries for pace bowling, in Tests since Jan 2006

Host country	Tests	Wickets	Average	Strike rate
South Africa	41	1048	28.87	53.7
New Zealand	34	782	31.38	57.3
Australia	45	1089	31.94	59.0
England	56	1312	32.22	59.4
West Indies	31	578	32.37	63.8

Australia's quick bowlers have usually enjoyed the conditions here. In the last series between the two teams here - in 2011-12 - South Africa's pace attack, led by Philander and Steyn, outdid Australia's, but in the series before that, Australia's fast bowlers were clearly dominant. In 2008-09, Australia's pace attack averaged 30.80 to South Africa's 36.46, and in 2005-06, led by Stuart Clark, they were even more dominant, averaging 21.68 to South Africa's 34.35.

Series-wise stats for fast bowlers in series between SA and Aus in SA

		Australia			South Africa
Season	Tests	Wickets	Average	Strike rate	Wickets	Average	Strike rate
2011-12	2	24	32.62	54.4	34	22.11	38.2
2008-09	3	41	30.80	69.2	39	36.46	62.1
2005-06	3	44	21.68	43.0	37	34.35	63.0
2001-02	3	30	32.03	60.9	31	45.06	64.0
1996-97	3	29	23.10	51.1	37	27.51	65.2
1993-94	3	27	36.40	86.5	43	35.09	77.5

The three South African fast bowlers in the current first-choice line-up all have excellent home records, with Philander, especially, being outstanding in his first ten home Tests. Australia's spearhead, Johnson, has had amixed time in South Africa: in 2009 he was on top of his game, taking 16 wickets at 25, but he had a terrible tour in 2011-12, taking three wickets at 85 each.

South Africa's fast bowlers in home Tests

Bowler	Tests	Wickets	Average	Strike rate	5WI/ 10WM
Dale Steyn	37	202	21.09	39.6	14/ 3
Morne Morkel	23	84	27.47	52.9	2/ 0
Vernon Philander	10	62	15.24	33.7	6/ 1

The batting comparison
The battle for pace-bowling supremacy is a closely contested one, with little to differentiate the two teams, but what could separate the two teams is the batting, and in that aspect South Africa look more solid, even without Jacques Kallis. In the last three years, South Africa's overall batting average of 39.03 is well clear of the other teams. Australia are in second place, just like in the pace-bowling department, but their average of 33.33 is significantly below South Africa's, who have scored 36 centuries in 24 Tests, compared to 39 in 35 Tests by Australia. Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis have formed a solid core for South Africa, while Michael Clarke has scored the bulk of the runs for Australia.

SA and Aus batsmen in Tests since Jan 2011

Batsman	Tests	Runs	Average	100s/ 50s
Michael Clarke	34	3322	59.32	12/ 7
AB de Villiers	24	2125	62.50	6/ 11
Hashim Amla	23	2120	60.57	8/ 9
David Warner	27	1924	40.93	5/ 10
Graeme Smith	24	1798	47.31	5/ 9
Alviro Petersen	20	1296	40.50	4/ 4
Brad Haddin	23	1138	31.61	1/ 9
Steven Smith	13	905	41.13	3/ 4
Chris Rogers	10	830	43.68	3/ 5
Faf du Plessis	11	782	60.15	3/ 2

South Africa seem to have the more dependable batting line-up, but even they've had problems against Australia at home. Kallis averaged 41.22 in 29 Tests against Australia, but in 14 home Tests against them, he averaged only 33.62, with two centuries in 26 innings.

Among the batsmen in the current squad, Graeme Smith has had more problems against Australia at home than in Australia, with his average dropping by about five runs at home. Similarly, Amla's home average against Australia drops to 42.88 - which is still fairly healthy - from 51.10 in Australia.

Australia's best batsman has also had far more success against South Africa in home conditions: in six home Tests against them he averages 106.55; in five away Tests, he averages 34.11, though that also includes a fantastic 151 in Cape Town in 2011.

South African batsmen in Tests v Australia

	Overall			in South Africa
Batsman	Tests/ Runs	Average	100s/ 50s	Tests/ Runs	Average	100s/ 50s
AB de Villiers	17/ 1300	46.62	4/ 8	8/ 629	48.38	2/ 4
Graeme Smith	17/ 1181	39.36	3/ 5	8/ 445	34.23	1/ 2
Hashim Amla	11/ 1022	51.10	4/ 4	5/ 386	42.88	2/ 1
JP Duminy	7/ 389	48.62	1/ 2	3/ 143	35.75	0/ 1
Faf du Plessis	2/ 293	146.50	1/ 2	-	-	-
Alviro Petersen	3/ 200	33.33	0/ 2	-	-	-

A venue for pace
To make matters worse for the batsmen, the first Test of the series will be played in Centurion, a venue which has been quite fast-bowler friendly in the last few years. Since the beginning of 2006, fast bowlers have averaged 28.88 here, and have taken 202 wickets at a strike rate of 50.7. Among venues which have hosted at least four Tests during this period, there are only five grounds where fast bowlers have a better average. On the other hand, spinners have averaged 44.65 here during this period, taking 38 wickets in eight Tests.

The list of leading wicket-takers in Centurion is filled with fast bowlers, and most of them have superb averages. Steyn has 36 wickets from six Tests at 17.61, Morkel's 17 wickets here have come at 23.41, while Philander has 12 at an average of 13.66.

Among the leading run-scorers here, Amla (678 runs at 84.75) and de Villiers (866 runs at 61.85) have impressive stats, but South Africa will miss Kallis, who is the leading run-getter here with 1267 runs at 70.38.

And apart from all these stats is South Africa's daunting record in Centurion: in 18 Tests they've won 14 and lost one, against England in 2000, in a Test in which both teams forfeited an innings each. Since then, South Africa have won 11 and drawn two in 13 games. No team has such an imposing record at any venue in Test history: with a 12-Test cut-off, the next-best is Pakistan in Karachi, where they've won 21 and lost two. Since 1990, the next-best win-loss ratio by any team is South Africa's record in Cape Town - the venue of the third Test - where they've won 18 times and lost thrice.

Australia have played only once in Centurion - way back in 1997 - and lost by eight wickets. That, however, was a dead rubber, as Australia had already won the first two Tests of the three-match series. When play begins at Supersport Park on Wednesday, there'll be plenty at stake for both teams.

McDermott rates Johnson No. 1

Over a pair of startlingly fruitful stints as Australia's pace-bowling coach, Craig McDermott has learned to trust in a handful of simple tenets. Chief among these are the passing on of rich encouragement to his pupils, leavened by simple, digestible and repeatable pieces of advice.

These fundamentals were clearly in evidence as McDermott weighed up Australia's bowling resources on the eve of the first Test against South Africa at Centurion. He balanced high praise for Mitchell Johnson - currently the world's No. 1 fast bowler by his estimation - with a pointed directive about how the tourists must bowl to Graeme Smith's side in the series beginning on Wednesday.

As hard as it may be to believe, given his harvest of 37 Ashes wickets over five Tests during the home summer, McDermott believes Johnson is capable of even better in South Africa, and offered up his bowling in Australia's warm-ups so far as evidence. Not only has Johnson been swift as ever, but he has also found the swing that also aided him in 2009.

"At Wanderers the other day he bowled a little bit better than he did in Australia, particularly with the late swing he's getting here," McDermott said. "The ball he bowled to Chris Rogers [on the Saturday] was something I've very rarely seen in my 35 years of cricket. It was going towards leg stump and knocked out his off stump. It swung unbelievably late.

"He bowled a number of balls like that the other day and. That's good for us. It becomes difficult for right handers who want to leave the ball and left handers who think they're going to just clip it off their pads.

"I think he probably is the best fast bowler in the world at the moment. He knows his game very well, and his accuracy is brilliant at the minute, it has been all summer. And he really understands where his wrist position is, with his alignment though the crease, he really believes himself so he's the full package. On top of that, he's a great bloke."

Johnson has re-grown his moustache in time for the series, again taking on the mantle of shock bowler and all the posturing that entails. He will again be able to charge in at his very fastest, for McDermott and the captain Michael Clarke are committed to using him in shattering bursts rather than taking advantage of a formidably strong frame that can allow him to bowl far longer spells at the cost of a few kilometres of speed.

"If you've got someone bowling 150 that's his best use," McDermott said. "He's got a real wow factor to his bowling from a pace point of view now and he bowled beautifully during the Australian summer. That's always been the plan with Mitchell. We wanted to use him as our shock bowler. When you've got someone like that you don't want him to bowl seven or eight over spells.

"You've got other blokes who are more drilled towards that. When you've got someone bowling 150 you didn't see Malcolm Marshall and those sort of blokes bowling eight or nine over spells. You want to make sure he's your shock bowler but he's fit enough, if he's on a roll, to bowl seven or eight over spells, so we've got the best of both worlds if it is required."

Taking a more general view of the series, McDermott acknowledged the fact his message is now no mystery to anyone. His insistence on a fuller length spiced with the odd bouncer has been the other constant of his coaching, but in South Africa's potentially lively strips it will be more relevant advice than ever. Some members of the squad have taken to McDermott's directives more swiftly than others, and it is no exaggeration to say that the most eager students will be those who find themselves taking the field at Centurion.

"We're going to have to get our lengths right. We're going to have to be very full," McDermott said. "It sounds like an old repeated saying of mine every time we start a new series about bowling full but it's going to be really important to be very full here. We've got to get that right from ball one.

"I think the wicket will have some carry in it and we'll have to bowl like we did in Australia. We'll have to bowl very full and mix that up with some short-pitched bowling, with some aggressive bowling as well. The wicket's going to be pretty Gabba-like I would have thought by the looks of it.

"We've got to get it right [if we bowl first]. We bowled first in Melbourne and we didn't quite get it right in that first hour. We had an unbelievable Ashes series with the ball. We probably only bowled average for five or six hours out of the whole Ashes series. We have to make sure we get that down to one or two hours in this series and we'll come up trumps."

Marsh, Doolan to tip out Hughes

Australia are set to go with hunches over hundreds against South Africa, anointing Alex Doolan for his Test debut at No. 3 while also shaping up to recallShaun Marsh despite his minimal preparation for the task at hand.

The national selector John Inverarity was seen offering a consoling word and pat on the back toPhillip Hughes in the nets as the tourists' final training session wound down, while the captain Michael Clarke had also hinted strongly at Doolan's inclusion.

"You guys can work out for yourselves whether Alex is going to play or not," Clarke said. "I can't tell you where he's going to bat. I haven't got the 11 players yet from the selectors, so I don't think it'd be fair for me to talk about individual players - who's in, who's out."

While Hughes has by far the best first-class record of the fringe batsmen and plenty of experience in South Africa, he only made the trip when Marsh was indisposed due to a calf problem. He would have remained in Western Australia if not for a calf strain to Shane Watson, but that injury allowed Marsh to return.

The tour selectors Darren Lehmann and Inverarity have been unable to resist Marsh's flowing form in the nets, even if he is still dealing with jetlag that Clarke admitted had taken numerous players far longer to get over than they had initially expected. Doolan has also swayed team observers by the purity of his stroke production and capacity to hit good balls to the boundary, the strong impression of his easy style not sufficiently undermined by a lack of substantial runs in recent months.

Marsh and Doolan have only two first-class hundreds between them this summer, though the latter's was an admittedly commanding fourth innings performance against a strong New South Wales to help Tasmania chase down a vexing target. Hughes meanwhile has made three Sheffield Shield centuries this summer, but there is a strong belief that Marsh and Doolan will be able to step up and counter-attack against South Africa's vaunted pace attack.

The selectors have long taken the view that there is more to choosing teams than simply picking the top players on the national aggregates. It is a belief they have clung to even after watching the opener Chris Rogers replicate his methodical run-making in Tests after doing so for years in first-class matches without recognition, largely as a result of an apparently ungainly style.

World's best wary of Australia's looming threat

The first few days on top of the world feel like a dream. Over the next few it all sinks in. There is exhilaration and a massive sense of achievement.

As the weeks go by, being the best starts to feel comfortable; normal, even. Once that stretches to months, and if you keep doing whatever it is you need to do to maintain the position, it may seem like no one can ever take it away from you.

Then, somewhere along the way, uncertainty will creep in. Doubt. Nerves. That will happen the day you realise someone is coming up the mountain behind you. That day for South Africa will dawn tomorrow. Glancing down the slope, they've seen Australia looking up at them.

"They've come hunting for us and that's exciting,"Graeme Smith said. "Now it's about us showing people why we are the No.1 team in the world."

This is not the first time Smith has emphasised South Africa have something to prove. Even though they won't lose the No.1 ranking even if Australia sweep them 3-nil, South Africa still feel they have to justify their status as the best Test team going around. Perhaps that thought is fueled by the fact that they have not beaten Australia in a series at home since readmission, despite winning Down Under on both their previous visits.

Smith wouldn't go as far as to say winning this series would complete his CV as captain, regarding the away wins in Australia as a "bigger highlight, considering it has been done so few times," but he hinted that the Australia visiting now is not the same as the squad that has been so successful here in the past. "They had an incredible team for a period of time," he said, adding that South Africa have that now. "It's become a big and important phase in our cricket now."

A large part of this new stage of South African cricket has focused on humility. Smith has been careful not to get too carried away with being ranked highest because he believes that is the trick to staying there.

After winning the mace in England and defending it in Australia, South Africa's brand of cricket has changed. They showed ruthlessness in the last home summer when they were victorious in all five Tests and completed all of them in less than five days. They showed resilience when they went to the UAE, where the previous top-ranked side's demise had begun, and bounced back from a hefty defeat to square the series.

Now they are back home with a different task at hand, against an opposition who have always known how to make them feel inadequate, even on their own turf. Overcoming that is the biggest challenge and that, rather than the off-field chatter, is where Smith's focus seems to lie. "When you play Australia, you expect to play a certain way and we don't expect anything different this time," he said. "All the talk, it's all a side show. It's really all about the cricket and that's what we want to focus on.

"The Aussies have been good for ticket sales and newspaper sales. It's been business as usual for us. Behind the scenes, it's been really focused. I sit here today and feel we are ready to go. We know how to win on this ground."

The series starts in Centurion, South Africa's most successful Test venue since readmission, and a place where they feel at home. The surface suits their quicks, and Smith predicted there will be something in it for them again, and if it's warm, as it often is in the summer here, it is also good for batting. They tend to draw a larger than usual and partisan crowd here and the vibe is festive.

It could be the ideal place to kick off if they are to change their home record against Australia. "It's always nice to come to familiar places where you've had success," Smith said. "You feed off past memories and things you've been able to create there."

Australia lost the only match they have played here, in 1997. That won't be too much of a bother for them because their bullishness appears to get the better of everything else. They know they cannot dethrone South Africa in this series but they can make a statement that they are on course to do it in future.

Until they do that, they seem to have admitted where the advantage lies at the moment. "South Africa are a really good team," Michael Clarke said. "They've got a great mix of youth and experience. They deserve the No. ranking, they've earned it."

For all the words uttered over the last week, as this series begins, Clarke agreed that South Africa "are the best in the world." That statement may only make South Africa want to prove it even more.