Centurion - Australia's opener Ricky Ponting and captain, Michael Clarke steered Australia to 96 for 1 in 19 overs before their innings was interrupted by close-range lightning and rain at SuperSport Park on Wednesday.
South Africa, playing their first one-day international since they crashed out of the quarter-finals of the World Cup in India in March, put the visitors in to bat knowing the Duckworth-Lewis method could come into play.
The floodlights were turned on just after 3pm and there was plenty of thunder and lightning about.
Lacking an event sponsor, Cricket South Africa had their facebook page and Twitter address painted onto the field, behind the wickets, where a company logo would normally appear.
Dale Steyn took the only wicket to fall in the first period of play, when David Warner (20) got an inside edge onto his leg stump.
Steyn's opening spell was expensive but Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Morne Morkel pinned the batsmen back and the Aussies struggled to score runs for a while.
Ponting was lucky to escape an inside edge which went just wide of wicketkeeper Mark Boucher and also survived several appeals.
Amla chose not to use the DRS system for an lbw and a caught-behind appeal.
Ponting was on 40 and Clarke 29 when the covers came on.