Australia have plenty to work on ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup but their fielding woes appear to be over.
Former captain Ian Chappell labelled Steve Smith's men the worst Australian fielding side since the 1980s earlier this summer.
Skipper Smith and coach Darren Lehmann conceded it was something that needed to improve urgently.
Lehmann and fielding coach Greg Blewett have been drilling their charges since and the rewards are starting to come.
Australia had problems with bat and ball in Durban, where they suffered a final-over T20 loss to South Africa on Saturday morning (AEDT).
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But they were magnificent in the field, regularly hitting the stumps and turning twos into singles.
Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja both held sharp catches, while debutant Peter Nevill completed a run-out of Proteas captain Faf du Plessis.
"That was a great fielding display," Finch said.
"We've been criticised over the last few months about our fielding in all forms of the game.
"The effort we've been putting in over the last few days and couple of weeks leading up to this tour, it's been huge - more fielding than I can remember us doing in the past.
"It's showing dividends."
The three-match T20 series continues at 11.30pm (AEDT) on Sunday in Johannesburg.
