Australians lose last game but win series

Australia's cricketers have been rated in the same class as golfing icon Tiger Woods after enhancing their reputation as the world's best team during a ruthless South African tour.

Proteas captain Shaun Pollock has placed the Australians on sport's top shelf even though South Africa ended its losing streak with a 65-run victory in the rain-marred final one-day match in Cape Town last night.

"You look at Australia and think they're the Tiger Woods of cricket at the moment," Pollock said.

"They've raised the benchmark of how the game must be played. I believe other teams have got the ability to play that way, it's just a matter of fine tuning and making sure that you can.

"But in 10 months' time come the World Cup, things may be going a bit different, certain players aren't in the form they are at the moment, and maybe you get a few lucky breaks."

The South Africans will need some luck because they have not been up to Australia's standard this summer, crashing to a 5-1 loss in the one-day series against new captain Ricky Ponting after a 2-1 loss in the Test series.

Over the course of the summer, Australia won five of the six Tests and eight of 11 one-dayers, with one tied.

Ponting was named the player-of-the-series for his shining performances as captain and batsman in one of the brightest signs for an improving team trying to cover for the loss of dumped veterans Steve and Mark Waugh.

The runs were shared, with Ponting tops among five batsman scoring at least 200 in the seven matches, while the frontline bowlers claimed wickets in challenging conditions.

With Darren Lehmann becoming a significant on-field adviser and 20-year-olds Shane Watson and Nathan Hauritz playing well, Australia left South African fans dreading their return next January 28 for the World Cup defence.

But the Australians lacked their killer edge last night and Ponting admitted his players had half their thoughts on cricket and half on the plane, which will today take some of the team home for a much-needed rest.

"It's been a long tour for us and a tough tour and the guys have been looking forward to going home and having a bit of break," Ponting said.

"Our next 12 months are huge. That's why this rest period when we get home is vitally important for us.

"A lot of the guys have niggling injuries and have got to get over those and have a good break to freshen up mentally."

The Australians took a longer-term view with their Cape Town tactics, reshuffling their order so all-rounder Watson could bat at three behind opener Jimmy Maher, who replaced his Queensland mate Matthew Hayden.

The tourists never hit top gear, reflecting the dismal weather which delayed the start of the match by almost two hours before South Africa scored 7-249 from the maximum 39 overs.

Australia was dismissed for 185 in the 33rd over in a flat finish to the eight-week tour.

Michael Bevan's 55 from 63 balls and Brett Lee's run-a-ball 28 were the main batting contributions but Australia was always struggling after losing Maher and Adam Gilchrist to consecutive deliveries in the third over.