Pakistan defeated South Africa by three wickets in the first ODI on Friday (April 2) and took a 1-0 lead in this three-match ODI series. While, second game is scheduled on Sunday in Johannesburg, the South African skipper admitted to the fact that the visitors outplayed them in all the departments.

“Not the result we were looking for, but a good game of cricket. We were tested in all departments and tested to our limits. A good start to the series, but we have areas to improve in,” skipper Temba Bavuma said after the match.

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The Proteas at one stage were 55/4, but thanks to David Miller's fifty and Rassie van der Dussen's hundred, the hosts ended up setting a target of 274 runs.

When asked about the areas to improve, Bavuma said, “I think the batting didn't help especially in the first 10 overs. The David-Rassie partnership helped, but it was too much to expect off them. The Imam-Babar stand took it away from us, and we were always on the back foot from then.”

“The guys are naturally aggressive, Aiden and Quinny upfront, and our options didn't come off, and they looked like soft dismissals, mine included. The options we take, we need to execute them much better than we did today,” he added.

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The 30-year-old then concluded the talk by saying, “we need to take the positives into the next game. We need to win the next two to win the series and there's no hiding behind that.”

Thus, it will be interesting to see what changes South Africa makes in the second ODI which is scheduled at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.

(With ANI inputs)