South Africa might have suffered a humiliating defeat in the first T20I against Australia in Johannesburg, but veteran paceman Dale Steyn is not too worried about it.
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The Proteas were crushed by 107 runs in the T20I series opener – their biggest defeat in the shortest format. Chasing 197 to win, the hosts made a bad start against the pace of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins before Ashton Agar's hat-trick sent them hurtling to their all-time lowest T20I total of 89.
On the eve of the second T20I in Port Elizabeth, Steyn said they can't get any worse after their performance at the Wanderers Stadium on Friday night.
"You are allowed to have a blow-out," Steyn quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. "We played some good cricket against England. It was one of the better series that I've played against England, even though we lost. We batted superbly and we bowled in patches really well. We don't have to be too hard on ourselves.
"This team is going to be learning. I hope our growth will be upwards. Even though we are losing, the process that Mark (Boucher) and Quinny [Quinton de Kock] have put in place is the right one."
Under the new coaching regime led by Mark Boucher, South Africa are yet to win a series this summer at home. After 3-1 Test series defeat at the hands of England, the Proteas managed to draw the ODI series 1-1 while they conceded the closely contested T20I series 2-1 against the three lions.
"We've got to start learning a little more from the mistakes we made against England. We carried it into Australia," Steyn said. "In the first six overs, we were a little bit too wide. We've got to adapt a little bit faster."
While most of the South African bowlers went for plenty, Rabada, in particular, came under the scanner for his lacklustre return from a period of extended rest.
Rabada, who was suspended for the final Test against England in late January and was given time off the white-ball leg of the series, conceded 45 runs in his three overs in the first T20I.
"It's lovely to have KG back with the ball. I know he went for a couple of runs but he hasn't been around so he is probably feeling ring rust," Steyn remarked. "And the younger bowlers like Lungi (Ngidi) and And (Phehlukwayo) look up to someone like him. Big time."
