“I think after we had them three down [3 for 3 in 3.1 overs], I think we just let the pressure off a little bit. We allowed them to get in,” Mashimbyi said after the match. “We didn’t squeeze them enough, I think, maybe in the next five overs, which allowed them to get in. That’s one period that I think we could have done differently.
“And obviously, at the later stage, we could have also maybe just minimised the boundaries there into the last ten [overs]. And that’s where they actually capitalised. I think those two moments for me were probably big moments in the game.”
“I think from an individual point of view, yes [some batters did well], but I think from a partnership point of view, I think we could have done a lot better,” Mashimbyi said. “Quite disappointed that we don’t have hundreds. We normally pride ourselves in scoring hundreds, so the whole tour we didn’t get a hundred. We’re normally the team that actually scores hundreds, and this time around we didn’t do that. So it just shows when you don’t get partnerships, it’s not going to get you hundreds.”
With the T20 World Cup coming up in June-July in England – South Africa are the losing finalists from both the last two editions – there will be some concerns after the double-series loss in New Zealand.
“I think our worry is where we need to tweak, where are the gaps,” Mashimbyi said. “We just need to make sure that we get better. I thought the two young [fast bowlers, 21-year-old Ayanda Hlubi and 27-year-old Tumi Sekhukhune] were good up front. They actually complemented each other very well. One was swinging the ball well, and the other one was bowling hard lengths. I thought they did a really good job for us. But I think overs after that sort of released the pressure, which allowed Green and Halliday to get in. The rest is history.”
Up next are India, who visit South Africa in mid-April for a five-match T20I series.
“[We have to] make sure that we can lose a series but it doesn’t make us a bad team. I think when you’re a team and you realise where you’ve gone wrong and it’s not things that you haven’t done before,” Mashimbyi said. “Normally where the gaps are it’s probably a little bit of a concentration thing or an awareness thing, and it costs you dearly. I think the whole series that was the case with us. That’s probably what we need to brush up and make sure that against India we leave no stone unturned.”
