South Africa won the second Test by 198 runs to level the series 1-1.
Kagiso Rabada (3-46) and Marco Jansen (3-63) starred with the ball in the final innings as the Proteas bundled out the hosts for 227 to level the two-Test series 1-1.
"It (electing to bat first) was a bold decision, luckily it paid off for us. This is a big one (win) playing away from home. Being one down and to bounce back. We needed to rise up and level the series. We got a long flight home, we have a lot of time to reflect on what happened. Our basics of the game went out of the window in the first game. We have shown in the past that we have a lot of characters in the team," said Elgar after the final day.
"You got to take 20 wickets to win a Test match, you got to take 40 wickets to win a Test series, but we weren't able to do that. It would be nice to be 1-0 up instead of being 1-0 down in a Test series. It's going to take time to get there. We need to be positive, it's only going to make us better moving forward," he added.
After taking a first-innings lead of 71, South Africa rode on wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne’s unbeaten 136 to pile up 354/9 (declared) in their second essay to set a target of 425 for the home team.
At stumps on Day 4, New Zealand were 94/4 and they did well to lose just one wicket in the first session on Day 5. However, the South African bowlers turned the table in the second session and bowled out the Kiwis in 93.5 overs.
New Zealand skipper Tom Latham was disappointed with the result and rued his team’s batting display in the first innings.
"Not the outcome we were looking for. We were not able to build enough partnerships, weren't able to put up a good first innings score, so disappointed to be in this position. I guess the game was in the balance for a long time, but the key moments didn't go our way. We knew South Africa were going to be at their best, we were not able to break those partnerships yesterday. You don't want to leave up to the rain," said Latham after the match.
"Like I said we were not able to build the partnerships. Regardless of the conditions, we try to do better. The players are trying to get better, it's about finding a way with the tail as well. Huge thanks to the South African team for coming here, it's never easy with the quarantine protocols to be followed," he added.
(With ANI inputs)