South Africa also had Australia in trouble in the first innings in the second Test at Melbourne last week before Hussey and Glenn McGrath added 107 for the last wicket in a match-turning partnership.
Australia won by 184 runs in Melbourne.
bat-breaker
McGrath played a role again in Sydney, contributing one to a 37-run last-wicket stand with Gilchrist, who broke two bats as he blazed 10 fours and two sixes in a 109-ball knock.
Gilchrist also shared partnerships of 37 with Lee (17) and 59 with No. 10 Stuart MacGill (29).
Earlier, Ponting became only the sixth cricketer and first Australian to score a hundred in his 100th Test.
He faced 174 balls before he was adjudged lbw to Jacques Kallis.
Ponting surpassed several milestones in his innings, lifting his career total to 8,110 runs to be third on the all-time list of Australian run scorers and century makers.
He's sixth on the international list of test century makers.
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