Australia put the South African bowlers to the sword after being asked to bat, plundering 50 off the first five overs Matthew Hayden is in dominant form and smashes Shaun Pollock for 17 in one over on his way to his half century Hayden and Adam Gilchrist share a century opening stand before the latter is caught by Herschelle Gibbs for 42 New batsman Ricky Ponting keeps the scoreboard moving and moves past 10,000 one-day international runs Hayden then bludgeons another maximum off Graeme Smith to record the fastest World Cup century off just 66 balls But two balls later Jacques Kallis surprises the opener with a lifter and Gibbs holds on to leave Australia 167-2 Kallis bounces a charging Ponting, and the Australian captain nods the ball for four leg-byes while taking evasive action Michael Clarke joins Ponting in bringing up speedy half centuries as the boundaries continue to flow in St Kitts Ponting and Clarke take the Australia score past 300 despite the best efforts of the South African fielders Makhaya Ntini finally makes the breakthrough - Ponting tries one big hit too many and holes out to AB de Villier for 91 Clarke follows after running himself out for 92, while Mike Hussey is well caught in the deep by Kallis Andrew Symonds smashes a couple of fours on his return to the Australia side as they post an imposing 377-6 Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers start the South African run chase in fine style moving past the 50 mark in the sixth over The duo reach their half centuries at quicker than a run-a-ball as they push the score onto 154-0 off 20 overs De Villiers is run out on 92 before an injury forces the unfortunate Smith to retire hurt on 72 South Africa then collapse - Shaun Tait's dismissal of Justin Kemp lbw leaves them on 264-5 Under pressure to get runs, Kallis is forced to take chances and ends up being caught by Clarke And Australia seal a remarkable victory by 83 runs when Ntini is bowled by Nathan Bracken
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