Hussey ready for South Africa decider

Mike Hussey has urged his Australia team-mates to play without fear in the deciding one-day international against South Africa on Friday.

The tourists will enter the third and final game in Durban coming off an 80-run loss to South

 Africa in Port Elizabeth, which levelled the series at 1-1.

Australia are hopeful of having big-hitting Shane Watson (back spasms) and Shaun Marsh (shoulder) fit for the clash,

But, regardless of who plays, veteran Hussey wants his side to banish memories of their recent loss and play with freedom.

"I think it's important not to dwell on it (the loss) too much, just get out of it what we needed to improve on, work on that over the next few days in practice and come in with a real positive attitude into the last game," he said.

"I don't think we can come in with any fear or doubts, we've just got to make sure we play with our freedom. That's when we play our best cricket.

"It's like a grand final for us and we're really looking forward to it."

Watson suffered from back spasms on Sunday, while Marsh has been out since hurting his left shoulder in the field during the second Twenty20 match on October 16.

Australia retained world number one status in the 50-over game when the latest rankings were released on Tuesday, while their opponents sit fourth.

And Hussey says they are proud of their position as the world's best and often use it as motivation.

"They're (South Africa) a very good team, but we have a lot of pride in that number-one position in the world and it's something that (captain) Michael Clarke continually talks to us about," Hussey added.

"He says to us, often: 'We're the number one team in the world for a reason and we've got to keep showing the world out there why'.

"He keeps challenging us in that way. The guys are very motivated for this last game and we are very proud of that number-one ranking and we want to hang on to it for as long as we can."