Jacques Kallis feels Proteas' win over Aussies in third Test will stand them in good stead for their year-end series against England.

South Africa put in a feisty performance at Newlands, winning by an innings and 20 runs to salvage some pride after losing the opening two matches.

It ended an intense four months of gruelling Test cricket between the two sides, with South Africa winning the first set of three matches 2-1 and Kallis, who was stand-in captain for the game due to the absence of the injured Graeme Smith, was happy with the way things worked out.

"This victory is huge for us"

"The captaincy was a tough job but it was made easier by the guys giving advice all around," he said.

"The guys played well from the start and the whole series (both home and away) is probably a fair reflection on how cricket has gone."

South Africa now have almost a nine-month break before the first of four Test matches against England and Kallis believes they will take plenty of confidence into that series.

He continued: "This victory is huge for us.

Smith returns for Proteas

"To turn it around from losing two games in a row - we knew we had to gain momentum and confidence, with England coming here in eight months' time. You do take the confidence from your last game.

"The guys will go into it (the England series) better prepared mentally than if we had played poorly in this Test match as well."

Before that, England will play Australia in the Ashes and after watching the progress of Ricky Ponting's reinforced team first hand over the past few months, the all-rounder believes they will go into that series with a good chance of winning.

He added: "The Australians played some really good cricket here. They will probably go in as favourites but it should be another good series."

Ponting all praise for his team

His counterpart Ponting was equally satisfied with the outcome of the series and had full praise for his young team, who he expects to continue leading the world game in the years ahead.

"We'd like to think that what we've done in the last few months, bringing on a new generation of Australian players, that we can retain a high level of Test cricket," he said.

"If we do that, and we play the way we did in the first couple of weeks on this tour, we'll take some knocking off the number one ranking.

"That's why we're always striving to make ourselves a better team, day in and day out, and we've made some great steps on this tour. The next Test cricket we play will be the Ashes, which will be another great challenge."

Ponting also called on the other Test nations to learn from the encounters between the two sides, adding: "The six Test matches we've played against each other this summer have probably been the most entertaining Test cricket played around the world at the moment.

"I think the other teams could have a look at the way we've gone about it and try and take a leaf out of our book to make Test cricket more appealing all around the world."

The two sides now take a short break before playing two Twenty20 internationals, followed by a five-match one-day series.