Dale Steyn bowled fast and straight to rattle the stumps of Watson and Colin Smith, while Hamilton pulled Wayne Parnell to square-leg, and Navdeep Poonia attempted a crazy third run.
Brad Haddin and Ponting struggled for fluency with the bat in a scratchy 89-run partnership, while in the bowling department Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait, Steve Smith and Shane Watson could not find a consistent line.