5 players with the best batting record in Australia-South Africa Tests

After a golden summer at home, the Steven Smith-led Australia are ready to pit their wits against Faf du Plessis' South Africa in a much-anticipated four-match Test series that begins at Kingsmead, Durban on Thursday, March 1.

The number two and three teams in the ICC Test Rankings have played 94 Test matches against each other and the unit from Down Under has won 51 out of them, while 20 ended in draws.

However, the last time these two teams locked horns in November 2016, the Proteas emerged victorious by claiming the three-match series 2-1, with wins in Perth and Hobart.

Similar to the zest and fervour for the upcoming series, all the past encounters between Australia and South Africa have been quite intriguing. Players from both the sides have always tried to put their best foot forward to dominate the opposition as much as possible.

Now, let's have a look at five stalwarts, who top-performed with the bat, whenever Australia and South Africa faced each other in whites.

#5 Michael Clarke

Michael Clarke hit 28 Test centuries and 5 out of them came against the Proteas

Michael Clarke will go down in history as one of sharpest cricketing minds ever produced by Australia.

Great batting prowess, leadership skills par excellence and a tactical mind made Clarke Australian cricket's blue-eyed boy.

The batting prodigy announced his arrival on his Test debut itself, cracking 151 against India in a 2004 Test match at Bangalore.

Between 2008 and 2014, Clarke played 14 Tests against South Africa and scored 1,487 runs at an average of 67.59.

In a stellar 11-year international career, Clarke hit 28 Test centuries and 5 out of them came against the Proteas.

Clarke, who led Australia to the first Ashes clean sweep in 81 years in 2013-14, scored 259*, his highest score against the opposition, in a 2012 Test in Brisbane as the match ended in a draw.

#4 Neil Harvey

Neil Harvey scored eight Test tons against South Africa

One of the greatest left-handers in the history of cricket, Neil Harvey is the last survivor from Don Bradman’s mighty 1948 Ashes champions.

In a career that lasted 15 years, Harvey played 14 Tests against South Africa and scored 1,625 runs at a whopping average of 81.25.

During the 1949-50 tour of South Africa, Harvey amassed 660 runs at 132.00 from eight innings in the series with four hundreds and was the chief reason behind Australia trouncing the Proteas 4-0 in their own den.

Harvey scored eight tons against South Africa but his highest score came when he hit a double ton in a 1953 Test at Melbourne. Although the hosts lost the Test, the five-match series ended in a 2-2 draw.

Harvey scored 1,659 runs in that entire home season, just 31 short of Bradman’s 1,690.

#3 AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers helped the Proteas orchestrate the highest successful run chase on Australian soil

AB de Villiers has proved it time and again that he is still the nucleus of South Africa's batting order and when the Proteas’ batting kingpin is on a song, no bowler stands a chance.

Between 2005 and 2014, De Villiers played 20 Tests against Australia and scored 1,641 runs at an average of 48.26.

From helping the Proteas orchestrate the highest successful run chase on Australian soil at Perth in 2008 to a relentless, stroke-less 33 off 230 balls at Adelaide in 2012, De Villiers has produced some of his best Test knocks against the Baggy Greens.

In a 2012 Test at Perth, the former skipper brought up his highest score of 169 against Australia and led South Africa to a massive 309-run win, claiming the three-match series 1-0.

#2 Jacques Kallis

Jacques Kallis scored five of his 45 Test tons against Australia

Regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Jacques Kallis, South Africa's leading run-scorer in Tests, piled up maximum runs against Australia as well.

Between 1997 and 2012, Kallis played 28 five-day games against Australia and scored 1,978 runs at an average of 40.36.

The ICC Test Player of the Year 2005, who earned a lot of praise for his orthodox batting technique, scored five of his 45 Test tons against Australia.

His highest score against Australia came in a 2012 Test at Brisbane, where he scored 147 and save the match. Eventually, the Proteas won the three-match series 1-0 and claimed the top spot in ICC Test Rankings.

#1 Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting boasts of a staggering average of 51.85 in the longest format of the game

Ricky Ponting, who scored more than 13,000 runs in his 17-year-long Test career, established himself as one of the modern-day batting greats.

Gifted with the ability to adapt, Ponting boasts of a staggering average of 51.85 in the longest format of the game.

The man with 41 Test tons under his belt, played 26 Test against South Africa between 1997 and 2012. The former Australia skipper scored the maximum 2,132 runs in the Test encounters between the two countries.

The 2006 ICC Test Player of the Year, scored 8 tons and 11 fifties against the Proteas.

During a 2006 Test against South Africa at Sydney, Ponting scored 120 in the first innings and remained unbeaten on 143, his highest score against the visitors, in the second and led the hosts to an 8-wicket win.