Proteas captain Faf du Plessis admits that his team batted too slowly after losing the first ODI to Pakistan.
South Africa had whitewashed the tourists in the three-match Test series and were favourites to do the same in the five-game 50-over contest too.
But after setting Pakistan just 267 runs for victory at St George’s on Saturday, they were always going to run short.
SA reached 266/2 in 50 overs as Hashim Amla cracked a 100 and Rassie van der Dussen scored 93 on debut.
But with the score on 190/1 heading into the final 10 overs, the Proteas failed to cut loose and push the score past 300.
CENTURION: SA's Hashim Amla. Photo: BACKPAGEPIX
And Faf says: “The two guys [Amla and van der Dussen] batted really well, but perhaps there were 10 or 15 runs that we could have pushed a little harder for.
“An in-form Hashim Amla is great for us. Rassie played beautifully, he had intent right through his innings. We need to adapt. You’re not going to always get conditions for the fast bowlers.”
The second ODI of the series will be played tomorrow at Kingsmead, Durban (1 pm start).