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Cape Town - Quinton de Kock's first match as captain of the national team did not go according to plan as the Proteas fell to a 3-run defeat (D/L) to Sr Lanka in the fourth ODI in Kandy on Wednesday.
The match was interrupted by rain throughout, making an already daunting task for the first-time skipper all the more difficult.
De Kock won the toss and bowled first, looking on as the Sri Lankans bashed 306/7 from what was eventually shortened to a 39-over innings.
De Kock felt that score was "par", but the Proteas crumbled in their run chase - which had also been shortened to 21 overs - losing key wickets at the wrong times as they fell just short.
Speaking after the match, De Kock acknowledged that Sri Lanka had simply been better than the Proteas on the day.
"I think a day like today is always going to be frustrating for the players and the fans. Everybody wants a nice clean game," he said.
"It's cricket at the end of the day and we got a great game out of it ... it was still nice to get out on the field.
"It was exciting. During the Test matches it was very one-sided and in the first three ODIs we beat them quite convincingly, so to have a game like that eventually is nice, for the players and the fans.
"Unfortunately we came out on the losing side, but they played really well."
Despite the big Sri Lankan total, De Kock and the Proteas always felt like they were in the game.
"We spoke about it and we thought it was a par score. We knew it was a batting wicket and just getting better and better, but they bowled really well and you can't take that away from them. They kept the pressure on us," he said.
"They kept picking up wickets at the right time and were clever with the way they went about things. They were just better than us in the second part of the game."
The fifth and final ODI takes place on Sunday.
