Never go in cold against the Australians.That was the glaring lesson a raw, shell-shocked Proteas combination learnt on Wednesday night as they slumped to a record 111-run defeat at Kingsmead.In hindsight, the sheer waywardness of the home side’s showing could be mitigated by how little cricket the majority of this squad has played.But there had been a narrative of sorts in the build-up that the South Africans’ enthusiasm for beginning white-ball coach Rob Walter’s era in earnest – Dewald Brevis’ debut highlighted that feeling – could trump an Aussie team that suffered from several injury withdrawals.However, the folly of such an argument was exposed as early as the first over as the tourists’ superior game-time shone.It was ironic that Marco Jansen – spraying the ball on both sides of the wicket – would nab Travis Head with his third delivery because the dynamic left-hander was one of the very few Aussie players not to have played relatively recently.Then again, his skipper Mitchell Marsh also hasn’t been in the middle since the white-knuckle affair that was the Ashes and he batted like he was never away.Muscular, elegant and precise, the 32-year-old right-hander was marvellous in crafting a career-best unbeaten 92 off just 49 deliveries.He proved particularly unstoppable in the power-play, where he hit six fours and two sixes as the visitors galloped to a score of 70.Marsh was forced to reel himself in though as three wickets – including Gerald Coetzee’s outstanding slower-ball yorker to castle Josh Inglis – stunted his side’s progress.In fact, the Proteas had seemed in business in only conceding 30 runs between overs 5 and 10 before a combination of their own lack of ruthlessness – which, yes, is attributable too to