If the two T20 internationals between Australia and South Africa had provided some respite to the former, in the process halting the Proteas’ juggernaut, it was back to square in the ODI series that followed. The Aussie cricket decline which had its roots in their loss to India at Perth in 2008, followed by the CB series debacle against the same team, showed another exponential downside as they went down to the South Africans 1-4. With this, South Africa also managed to usurp the hosts from their number one spot in the ICC ODI rankings and claim that spot.
So what went – or rather has been going – wrong for the Aussies in this series? 
Weak, weak bowling: Glen McGrath and Shane Warne had always been taken for granted, and although everyone knew that their retirements would leave a gaping hole in the Aussie line-up, not too many would have imagined the extent to which it would dent the attack. To put it simply, it has been a revelation – and a rather nasty one at that – in every sense of the word. Little known Ben Hilfenhaus has been Australia’s best bowler with seven wicket from the four matches at a whopping economy of more than 5.5 runs per over. In comparison, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn and Johan Botha, all have an average of anywhere between 17 and 25, and economy rates ranging from less than four to almost five. 
Nathan Bracken had looked difficult to score off – and that’s reflected in the statistics – but he failed to get going in the wickets’ column, where as the best Australian bowler of 2008, Mitchell Johnson has looked as pedestrian as a club bowler does against someone of the calibre of Virender Sehwag. An average of 101 and a not so frugal economy of almost seven played a huge part in Australia’s downslide.
The South Africans were both penetrative and incisive with their bowling, with their variety adding more arsenal to the aforesaid factors. Steyn’s swing at relatively quicker pace, Ntini’s in-cutters with the odd one that straightened combined with Jacques Kallis’ change of pace and skipper Botha’s intelligent modifications of lines and lengths meant that the Aussies struggled to come to grips with the opposition and half the batting battle was lost there.
South Africa’s partnerships and Aussies’ fall in clusters: It is often said that centuries invariably put the team in winning positions, if not actually triumph. This series has been an exception by a long way, as not a single century was recorded by either of the teams, and yet South Africa was the victor by a long way. And that can be simply attributed to the middle-order partnerships that they had for every wicket at almost every situation during the five matches. 
The Melbourne ODI had a century stand for the fourth wicket and another unbeaten fifty for the eighth. The only match that the tourists went on to lose was the Hobart match, where again, South Africa had a near hundred runs stand for the third wicket but were upstaged by a second wicket century partnership from the home team. In the Sydney ODI, David Warner and Shaun Marsh had provided the Aussies with a hundred-run opening partnership, but with nothing to back it up with, they collapsed. The South Africans were aided by two stunning innings by Herschelle Gibbs and Albie Morkel who saw the teams through.
If one thought that the hosts would have learnt anything from their previous experiences, it was a huge misunderstanding as the Adelaide ODI saw the Aussies lose eight wickets for around 100 runs, while the third wicket stand between Amla and A.B. de Villiers saw it through for the hosts again.
In the final ODI at Perth, there was a century added for the third wicket, as compared to a highest stand of 69 in the Aussie inning.
Captaincy turnaround by Botha: When Graeme Smith announced that he was unfit to lead the visitors for the shorter version of the game, Johan Botha was handed the reigns over the likes of Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis. The common question that pursued the fans and experts alike was, ‘Botha who?’ Fuel was added to the fire as South Africa went down to Australia in both the T20 matches under his captaincy, but Botha looked undeterred and once he had had his first ODI win of the series, there was no looking back.
Five ODIs and a number one position later, there wasn’t much doubt about the captaincy credentials of Botha. In fact, in comparison with Ponting, Botha was far more relaxed, a lot more aggressive, and on most occasions was ahead of and read the game like the back of his hand.
Fielding bloopers come at a cost: When Bob Simpson was handed over the coaching responsibilities in the 1990s, one of the first focuses that he delved on was the importance of fielding and ever since then, the Aussie fielding had been modelled into something the teams world over looked to ape, but few ever succeeded. A decade or so on, gone was that aura, that hallow over the Aussie heads when it came to this aspect of the game.
At least five catches and an equal number of run-out chances were missed by the Aussie fielders, and most importantly, these occurred at some of the most inopportune times during the match. This malaise had first reared up during the test series against India in 2007-08, when nicks were found aplenty by the Indian batsmen, but the slip-catching left a lot to be desired.
It has only got worse since.
Fear factor gone missing: The Aussies were famous – or infamous, depending on which way you looked at it – for their psychological warfare from even before a team landed on their shores. Ever since the away-held Border-Gavaskar trophy was shunned away by Ponting and company, gone was their aura, and the fear factor that many of the opposition had for this team. The throne that sat so easily on the Australian cricketers’ – both former and current – shook uneasily like never before as they failed to intimidate the South Africans on or off the field. With the Aussie media not able to sharpen their claws against the visitors, South Africa had no real worries throughout the tour – test matches included – and put it across the ‘world champions’ with consummate ease.