Fly half Lambie hit the left upright with his team trailing by a point 14 minutes from the end but made amends when he landed goals in the 70th and 79th minutes.
It was a hard-fought battle between two teams struggling to finish in the top six on the log and earn a place in the competition play-offs.
The Sharks win lifted them to fifth, one point and one place ahead of the Waratahs.
"We're playing for our lives every weekend," said Sharks captain and loosehead prop John Smit.
"When that kick hit the poles my heart nearly stopped."
Both teams scored two tries in remarkably similar fashion. Fly halves Lambie and Daniel Halangahu, a late replacement for the Waratahs, both went over for individual tries after breaking from scrums, while both teams scored long-range tries after turnovers.
The Sharks looked in control when they led 13-6 five minutes before half-time but after another break by Lambie they lost the ball five metres short of the Waratahs line.
Flank Dave Dennis grabbed the ball for the Australian team and Halangahu raced down the left touchline before passing to wing Lachlan Turner, who scored in the corner to make the score 13-11 at the break.
It was the Waratahs' turn to take the ascendancy after Halangahu's try in the second half.
They went eight points ahead when Sharks flank Jean Deysel was yellow-carded for an illegal tackle and full-back Kurtley Beale landed the resultant penalty.
With the Sharks down to 14 men, Beale led a Waratahs attack but lost the ball when he was tackled near the Sharks 22.
Wing JP Pietersen picked up the loose ball and sprinted 70 metres to score in the right corner. Lambie converted to set up a tense finish.
The Sharks produced most of the attacking rugby but the Waratahs had the better of the tight forward exchanges despite losing prop Sekope Kepu to a leg injury after 13 minutes.
Kepu's replacement, Al Baxter, had an impressive match alongside fellow Wallaby front-rowers Benn Robinson and Tatafu Polota-Nau.
Waratahs captain Dean Mumm blamed his team's defeat on "ill discipline and (playing) too much in our own half when it really mattered".
He said next weekend's match against the Bulls in Pretoria was crucial if the Waratahs were to retain control of their play-off destiny.
- AFP
Tags: sport, rugby-union, super-14, australia, nsw, sydney-2000, south-africa
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