Sydney: South Africa were on 62/1 at stumps, needing 314 more runs to win after Australia set 376-run target on Day 4 of the final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Neil McKenzie (25) and Hashim Amla (30) safely negotiated the final session after losing night watchman M Morkel early in the innings to Bollinger. Bollinger got his first wicket in the eighth ball of the second innings.

South Africa have a Herculean task in their hand as they also missed the services of their skipper Graeme Smith in the ongoing Test due to finger injury. The match is a dead rubber but that's a deceptive term; a South African victory will bounce them up to the No. 1 Test ranking and Ponting would go down in history as the first captain to lead Australia to a 0-3 loss at home.

Earlier, Australia declared their innings on 257/4 on Day 4 of the third and final Test with South Africa need 376 runs to make an Aussie whitewash and claim the numero uno spot in Test rankings. Aussies needed just a draw to keep their top spot.

Skipper Ponting declared Aussie innings the moment they lost Micheal Clarke (41) as Micheal Hussey remained unbeaten on 45. Ponting (53) was cruising along well but lost his patience as he rushed through on Morkel's delivery and dragged it on the stumps for a rather silly dismissal. Katich followed Ponting back to the pavilion before Australia got past 300-run mark.

Brief Score: South Africa 327 and 1 for 62 (Amla 30*, McKenzie 25*) need another 314 runs to beat Australia 445 and 4 for 257 dec (Katich 61, Ponting 53).