South Africa seized control of the third and final Test on Tuesday after Ashwell Prince and Jacques Kallis both scored centuries then Australia's top-order batting collapsed.
Prince scored 119 and Kallis 111 to help the Proteas amass a daunting total of 451 for nine declared before the Australians slumped to 54-3 in reply, 397 runs behind.
Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer both played-on against Charl Langeveldt while Brad Hodge fell to Andre Nel in the last over of the day at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The umpires immediately drew stumps after Hodge fell, leaving the Australian captain Ricky Ponting on 13 and the home team struggling to survive just four days after they won the second Test in Melbourne by 184 runs for a 1-0 series lead.
Graeme Smith sent the Australians in, to face a tricky 15-over spell before close of play after declaring South Africa's innings with Test debutant Johan Botha on 20 and Langeveldt on one.
The tourists had resumed on 230-3 and added 221 runs for the loss of six wickets on a flat pitch that offered the bowlers little encouragement but was ideal for batting.
Prince and Kallis shared a record 219-run partnership for the fourth wicket that turned the match South Africa's way after they had come to the crease the previous day with the visitors in trouble at 86-3.
Prince registered his third Test century while Kallis chalked up his 23rd despite needing painkillers for an elbow injury that forced him to miss the drawn first Test in Perth and has left him in doubt for the one-day series.
Both players batted over six hours and faced more than 270 balls each with Kallis, who started the day on 80, hitting 17 boundaries and Prince 11.
They broke an 84-year record for the highest fourth-wicket stand by a South African pair against Australia before Kallis pulled Andrew Symonds straight to Glenn McGrath at long leg prior to lunch.
Prince, who resumed on 62, departed after the first interval when he was given out lbw to Warne, failing to offer a shot to a sharply turning leg-break that struck him well outside off stump.
South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher was also the victim of a controversial decision when he attempted a sweep shot off Stuart MacGill.
Adam Gilchrist dived around the stumps to claim the catch but television replays showed Boucher had hit the ball into the ground before it popped up off his pads.
Jacques Rudolph, who hit a century in Perth to salvage the draw, made 38 before edging McGrath to Gilchrist while Shaun Pollock kept the scoreboard ticking along with 46 when he drove Brett Lee to Hodge at mid-on.
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Australia made a bright start to their reply, scoring freely at over four runs an over, before they were forced to apply the brakes after losing two early wickets.
Langeveldt got Hayden for four in his second over, then Langer for 25 when he clipped an attempted pull back on to his stumps.
Ponting brought up his 8,000th Test run in the penultimate over, joining Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Mark Waugh as the only Australians to pass the milestone, before watching Hodge fall for six, spooning a catch to Rudolph at short leg.
Scorecard:
South Africa 1st innings (Overnight: 230-3)
A. de Villiers c Gilchrist b Lee 2
G. Smith lbw b Lee 39
H. Gibbs b McGrath 27
J. Kallis c McGrath b Symonds 111
A. Prince lbw b Warne 119
J. Rudolph c Gilchrist b McGrath 38
M. Boucher c Gilchrist b MacGill 5
S. Pollock c Hodge b Lee 46
J. Botha not out 20
A. Nel c Hodge b Warne 12
C. Langeveldt not out 1
Extras (b-9 lb-6 nb-16) 31
Total (for 9 wickets declared, 154.4 overs) 451
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-69, 3-86, 4-305, 5-344, 6-355, 7-394, 8-433, 9-449
Bowling
G. McGrath 34 - 17 - 65 - 2
B. Lee 30.4 - 7 - 82 - 3 (nb-11)
A. Symonds 23 - 4 - 69 - 1 (nb-3)
S. Warne 36 - 5 - 106 - 2
M. Hussey 2 - 0 - 12 - 0 (nb-2)
S. MacGill 29 - 5 - 102 - 1
Australia 1st innings
J. Langer b Langeveldt 25
M. Hayden b Langeveldt 4
R. Ponting not out 13
B. Hodge c Rudolph b Nel 6
Extras (lb-6) 6
Total (for 3 wickets, 14.2 overs) 54
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-35, 3-54
To bat: M. Hussey, A. Symonds, A. Gilchrist, S. Warne, B. Lee, S. MacGill, G. McGrath
Bowling
S. Pollock 5 - 0 - 20 - 0
C. Langeveldt 7 - 2 - 23 - 2
A. Nel 2.2 - 0 - 5 - 1
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