Australia captain Ricky Ponting is confident he has assembled a strong supporting cast behind Brett Lee, who will be unleashed on South Africa's top order in the Twenty20 international this weekend.
Ponting said it was vital that pace spearhead Lee continued to rattle South Africa, taking top-order wickets including that of captain Graeme Smith.
Smith, despite talking it up big time in the recent Test and limited-overs series in Australia, failed to reach a half-century in either form of the game against Ponting's side, and he averaged only 20.75 in the VB Series.
Ranked No.2 in limited-overs cricket, South Africa missed the VB Series finals - which world champion Australia won earlier this month, defeating Sri lanka 2-1 .
Ponting said Lee, who topped the tri-series aggregate with 22 wickets at an average of 24.86, was thriving on the chance to be the key paceman in the absence of Glenn McGrath.
"Because he has got his own game in such good shape at the moment, he's really enjoying that extra responsibility," Ponting said.
"We are looking forward to him over here.
"He has been vital to us in both forms of the game - to be able to take wickets with the new ball - and we will be looking for him to do that again for us.
"When he is bowling the way he is, bowling fast and swinging the ball, he's very difficult for any batsman to play.
"We'll have other guys around him in the one-day side, and even when the Test matches come around, who can do the other jobs.
"Brett's strengths are his pace and being able to use that in short bursts, so that's the way we're planning to use him."
McGrath is at home caring for his wife, Jane, who is battling cancer.
Ponting said he was pleased with the development of New South Wales pair Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken, who will be asked to fill McGrath's role in the one-dayers and possibly also the Test series starting on March 16.
The pair took 32 wickets between them in the tri-series, including 21 from left armer Bracken.
"I couldn't really have been much happier with the way Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken have performed over the summer and really matured into good international bowlers," Ponting said.
"We're not exactly sure if we are going to have Glenn for the Test part of the tour. We'll have to wait and see how that pans out."
The Twenty20 international at the Wanderers in Johannesburg starts at 3.00am on Saturday (AEDT).
- GREG BUCKLE