South African skipper Graeme Smith was relieved to see his charges return to form when the beat New Zealand by five wickets in their Champions Trophy clash at SuperSport Park on Thursday.
Having been on the wrong end of a hammering on Tuesday against Sri Lanka, the Proteas were in a must-win situation when they came up against the Kiwis and Smith admits he was happy to see the team perform at the expected level.
"This was more of a level that we expect of each other and that we've got use to playing at," said Smith.
"I think the bowlers had the first go at it again and they really set the example beautifully. Wayne and Dale up front bowled with the intensity we've been looking for, they hit the right areas and they created a lot of pressure. I think that's a credit to them the way they've bounce back and a credit to everybody that followed.
"It was a good clinical performance today and something that we've gotten use to at this level," he added.
While the victory was, in the end, comprehensive, the chase was not as convincing as many would have hoped, but Smith insisted he was satisfied with the manner in which the target was reached.
"I think the first prize is always to win the game," the skipper explained.
"We knew the wicket was a touch slower today, not like the other night where it was free stroke-play. You had to work a little bit harder.
I guess it was about getting yourself to a point where you could just have a good go at it - 40 overs or 41 overs it could be over. You know, we lost wickets as we started getting partnerships going to really have a good go at it, but I'm happy with the run chase."
Smith showed great faith in young faster bowler Wayne Parnell, who was kept in the attack during the crucial Powerplay overs despite having been expensive, with the 20-year-old rewarding his captain's decision with career-best figures of five for 57.
"Wayne has proved he's got the skills and it was great to see him bounce back today. He's a young guy and going to have ups and downs. As a captain it's important to show faith in him," Smith asserted.
New Zealand were left to rue their decision not to pick two spinners, preferring to go with an extra batsman after all-rounder Jacob Oram was ruled out through injury, and captain Daniel Vettori admitted that, while the decision hadn't worked out given the top order's poor form, it was the right move.
"[The top order] is an area that we haven't been performing the way we want to and with Jacob there he offers such balance, a top line batsman with a good record and a very good one-day bowler," explained Vettori.
"So when you take him out of the side you've got to make a decision and because we haven't been performing as well as we would like with the bat we decided to go with the extra batsman and unfortunately it didn't work."
The Black Caps had built a solid foundation thanks to stabilising knocks from Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott, but when Elliot fell at a crucial stage the Kiwis' hopes of a big total were scuppered.
"I think losing Grant Elliott just before we were going to take the powerplay put a real dampener on it," concluded Vettori.
"Crucial moments like that usually determine a one-day international and unfortunately it went South Africa's way. If we could have got through that and those two had taken on the Powerplay, two set batsmen then who knows what could have happened."
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