Smith clinched a victory set up by a fine bowling effort

Smith hit an unbeaten 119 as the hosts won by six wickets at Centurion but he refused to take the credit.

"Makhaya Ntini was great, but Shaun Pollock was especially important in getting us the win," he said.

"This win makes the team more hungry because we've been through a tough period. The guys are highly motivated."

Australia's stand-in skipper Adam Gilchrist admitted the world champions had been comprehensively outplayed.

"Man for man, South Africa just outbowled, outbatted and outfielded us. We just didn't deliver," he said.

Gilchrist also refused to use injuries to skipper Ricky Ponting, all rounder Andrew Symonds and fast bowler Stuart Clark as an excuse.

Brett can't be on song every game and hopefully the younger bowlers will realize where they erred Adam Gilchrist

The injuries to Ponting (abdominal muscle), Symonds (thigh) and Clark (ribs) meant the visitors were reduced to 11 fit men.

Mitchell Johnson and Mick Lewis, with only six one-day internationals between them, had to play and South Africa punished the inexperienced pacemen mercilessly.

Paceman Brett Lee also finished with none for 59 in his 10 overs as South Africa chased a revised target of 204 in 41 overs with 21 balls to spare.

"The injuries are not an excuse, Graeme Smith had to deal with those through the recent tour in Australia," said Gilchrist.

"Brett can't be on song every game and hopefully the younger bowlers will realize where they erred. Maybe they were too full or too wide."

Australia will seek to level the best-of-five series in the second match in Cape Town on Friday.