It was the moment Graeme Smith's unstoppable courage met Mitchell Johnson's remarkable talent and it was Australia's Superman who claimed victory to end one of Test cricket's greatest series.
South Africa had already scored two victories to claim a series on Australian soil for the first time and a 3-0 sweep would have given Smith's side Test cricket's top ranking ahead of Australia.
Smith, having removed a plaster cast from his fractured left hand and wearing a shirt he borrowed from Jacques Kallis, came out to bat at 9-257 with 8.2 overs remaining in the third Test yesterday, receiving generous applause from the SCG crowd of 9075.
Fifteen runs later, Johnson broke through Smith's courageous attempts to defend his country's honour at 5.34pm to hand Australia a 103-run victory with 10 deliveries to spare.
Australia's win has saved the home side from the embarrassment of being swept at home in a series for the first time in 122 years and it also allowed Ricky Ponting's men to maintain their grip of Test cricket's top ranking.
Hashim Amla (59) and A.B.De Villiers (56) scored half-centuries for the Proteas.
Johnson and debutants Andrew McDonald and Doug Bollinger took two wickets each but the real hero was Peter Siddle who won the man-of-the-match award with his career-best 5-59 and 3-54.
''I think deep inside I did not really want to get out there,'' said man-of-the-series Smith, who was bowled by Johnson for three runs off 17 balls.
''I had Morne Morkel dressing me and putting my shoes on and pads on and then I saw the guys before me and I probably decided 25 overs out ... I started padding up as Makhaya [Ntini] went out to bat.
''I decided to go out there and give it my best shot and if I got a first-baller or whatever at least I tried.
''He [Johnson] probably would have got me if I had both arms available. It cut back off the crack there.
''Mitchell has bowled superbly throughout the series.''
Australia captain Ricky Ponting paid credit to the toughness of Smith, who had also carried a right-elbow tendon injury for several months and had injections in the elbow during the third Test.
Ponting said the win would give his players momentum for next month's return Test series in South Africa and defended the character of his men to rebound from 2-0 down.
Australia will name squads today for the coming Twenty20 and one-day series against South Africa, which Smith will miss while back home recovering from his injuries.
Ponting suggested pace spearhead Johnson would be rested during the one-day series against South Africa and New Zealand.
The left-armer's importance has been magnified with injuries to Brett Lee and Stuart Clark.
''With his workload as well, that's one thing that we shouldn't overlook,'' Ponting said. ''You could probably see late tonight the effects of a long summer for him.
''He's a pretty complete package Mitch and we'll keep nursing him along and keep getting that sort of improvement out of him that we've got over the last six months.''
Johnson was Australia's leading bowler last year with 63 wickets and took another four wickets in the Sydney Test. AAP
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