Faf du Plessis has delivered a scathing assessment of South Africa's batting in St Kitts, saying soft dismissals handed victory to Australia in the ODI.
The Proteas were in complete control at 2-177 in the 32nd over, having been set a target of 289 in the tri-series clash.
Du Plessis, who top-scored with 63, and AB de Villiers were set, starting to play shots and had brought the run-rate required below six an over.
Then all hell broke loose.
Mitchell Starc removed du Plessis before Josh Hazlewood kickstarted a collapse of 7-42 by clean bowling de Villiers.
"We were in complete control of the game. It felt like it was very close to impossible to try and lose the game," du Plessis said.
"It was a case of a few of us giving wickets to the Australian team a bit, soft, soft wickets.
"We were pretty dominant with the bat .... we were brilliant for 35 overs then lost it in five overs.
"We almost just handed it over ... mentally we were off it for five overs.
"It's terrible (watching it unfold) because you almost can see the script. You can see where it's going."
Skipper De Villiers expressed similar sentiments in the post-match ceremony, noting his side had too many "soft" dismissals.
Du Plessis, who missed the Proteas' opening two games in the series because of a finger injury, denied Australia had a mental edge and was confident his side could turn it around in the Caribbean.
"By no means do I feel whatsoever there's red flags in terms of our batting unit. Our batting unit has been extremely strong the last two years," he said.
The dismissal of de Villiers proved the game's turning point.
Young legspinner Adam Zampa stepped up in a tense finish, grabbing three wickets then Starc mopped up the tail with the help of a one-handed screamer from substitute fielder Glenn Maxwell.
"At 3-200, they looked like they were probably home and hosed but if you hang in there anything can happen," David Warner said.
"The bounce back from the bowlers was fantastic."
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