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In one of the most entertaining one-day international clashes seen in Australia for some time, Finch’s 109 and David Warner’s 53 laid a quality platform before some incendiary late batting by man-of-the match Smith (73 off 55 balls) saw Australia post a massive 5-329 on a pitch conducive to good batting.
Smith's efforts included one of the most ridiculous shots we'll see this summer during the final over as he flicked a delivery from Morne Morkel between his legs to the boundary. That effort was just one incident in an amazing over, however, one that saw Faf du Plessis produce two amazing pieces of fielding while Australia also posted 19 runs.
The total of 329, though, total hardly looked enough as South Africa returned fire in the run chase, with Hashim Amla producing a century in reply.
Openers Amla and Quinton de Kock (47) dominated Australia’s attack – one boasting several fringe bowlers as selectors gave the young guns a World Cup audition - as they raced past the hundred without loss in 18 overs.
Even when de Kock, Faf du Plessis (17) and Rilee Rossouw all fell, Australia’s total looked vulnerable as Amla worked his way past the hundred mark and Proteas skipper AB de Villiers launched an extraordinary attack on the bowlers.
De Villiers looked in supreme touch as he delighted the Canberra crowd with some seriously inventive stroke play that included brilliantly getting down on one knee to dismissively sweep Shane Watson over the boundary during one over that went for 16.
But de Villiers ultimately came unstuck on 52 as Kane Richardson (1-49) – smashed from pillar to post in an early spell – returned to the fray and had the South African skipper trapped plumb in front.
And, when the solid Josh Hazlewood (3-51 off 9.3 overs) bowled Amla for 102 with the very next ball, momentum had well and truly turned in Australia’s favour.
The Aussies kept their foot to the floor as they took six South African wickets for just 32 runs, with Mitchell Starc finishing the night with 4-32 off eight overs as he ran through the tail.
In strange scenes, South Africa were forced to finish the night on 9-256 as Imran Tahir couldn’t come out to bat after reportedly hurting his knee in the field.
Australia now lead the five-match series 2-1 ahead of Friday’s fourth clash at the MCG