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Cape Town - South Africa captain AB de Villiers was disappointed with the way the bottom six batsmen played against the West Indies on Friday, but added that the sluggish deck, combined with Sunil Narine's spin, made for a tough night.
The Proteas were bowled out for 188, with Narine taking six wickets and the lower order all failing to reach double figures. The Windies chased the target down with 11 balls to spare and four wickets in hand.
De Villiers said: "We laid the foundation (52-run opening stand) perfectly well and felt 220-plus would be difficult to chase. But we were short with the bat.
"We lost our way a bit towards the end. Unfortunately, that cost us at the end of the night.
"The wicket was tough to bat on and Sunil Narine is one of the best bowlers in the world at the moment. It was slower than any other wickets I had batted on during the IPL.
"There are no excuses and we lost our way at the end. That's what cost us."
As for Narine, he won the man of the match gong and said it was good to be back after his issues with his bowling action, which has been drastically changed.
The spinner said of his six-fer: "It is good being back in West Indies colours and it is something I enjoy. It is a blessing to be back.
"Every game there is a bit of nerves. I don't think there is any secret and I just wanted to give 100 percent. I have changed my action about 70 to 80 percent. I'm still getting accustomed to the action."
