The three-match campaign is level at 1-1 heading into the final game this weekend.
South Africa will need to be better with bat and ball, according to bowling consultant Albie Morkel, as they aim to hit back in the third and final T20 International against Pakistan in Lahore on Saturday (5pm start).
After winning the first match by 55 runs in Rawalpindi earlier this week, the SA team lost the second fixture by nine wickets in Lahore on Friday.
Batting first after losing the toss, the Proteas were reduced to 15/3 in the third over, and they never recovered. They were ultimately bowled out for 110 runs in the final over of their innings.
In response, chasing 111 runs to win, the hosts coasted to 112/1 with more than six overs to spare.
“After our first good game, we expected today to wrap up the series. It didn’t happen and you can’t sugarcoat it,” former Proteas all-rounder Morkel said after the match.
“I thought the Pakistani team bowled really well today – a lot better than the last game. They attacked the wickets, they used their slower ball very effectively and they put us under a lot of pressure in the powerplay.”
Improvements required
Looking ahead to the series decider on Saturday, with the scores level at 1-1, Morkel said the South Africans would need to shake off the defeat and improve in all areas.
Though the Proteas were fielding a second-string side, with a number of senior players being rested ahead of a Test series against India later this month, Morkel said they couldn’t put it down to inexperience after they had won the first game of the series convincingly.
Instead, he felt they needed to get off to a better start with the bat if they hoped to win the three-match campaign.
“There are not a lot of positives to take out of today. If you lose three or four wickets in the powerplay you often don’t recover from that. They kept the pressure on… and 110 was never going to be enough,” he said.
“So for a start, if we lose the toss again, we need to put enough runs on the board, and then bowl a bit better. I think that’s the bottom line.”
