Boucher hit the winning boundary with a ball to spare

Mark Boucher described South Africa's thrilling victory over Australia as "one of my best moments in cricket".

South Africa topped Australia's record 434-4 after a stand of 187 between Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs.

"It was something special. It's a bit of a short boundary but you can't take anything away from the Aussies - they played fantastically," said Boucher.

"We tried to keep it simple, we knew we had to get a good start and Herschelle and Graeme did fantastically well."

The two highest ever innings set a record aggregate of 872 runs, overwhelming the previous mark of 693 by India and Pakistan two years ago.

After Boucher hit the winning runs, Smith admitted: "Chasing 434 is a bit surreal for us but it was an unbelievable wicket and the batsmen were all able to play their shots."

Test cricket is a different ball game but hopefully we can take some of that momentum into the Test series Mark Boucher

Aussie captain Ricky Ponting paid tribute to Gibbs, who hit a stunning 175 off 111 balls to take the man of the match award.

"I'm sure everybody here today had one of the greatest days of their lives," said Ponting, who hit 164 as his side became the first ever to pass 400.

"We played really well and got an unbelievably big total but Herschelle and the boys have just been too good.

"You couldn't ask for a more exciting one-day match; plenty of boundaries, plenty of sixes, it was great."

The teams now have just three days off before the first Test begins in Cape Town.