Proteas youngsters will be better for the experience after Black Caps defeat, says Conrad

Proteas coach Shukri Conrad believes there were plenty of positives to take from the T20I Tri-Series, despite his team losing the final to a “classy” New Zealand outfit by three runs in Harare on Saturday.

Conrad focused on the development of young batting stars Lhuan-dre Pretorius' and Dewald Brevis, along with the way the death bowling steadily improved over the past fortnight.

After being restored to the top-of-the-order after slotting in at No 5 in the previous game, Pretorius showed off his best form of the series with a 35-ball 51 - his maiden T20I half-century - to set up the Proteas’ pursuit of 181 for victory.

Brevis, meanwhile, had a different type of pressure to deal with in the middle-order. The 22-year-old took the Proteas to the brink of victory with a blistering 16-ball 31, reducing the target to seven runs off the final over, but was ultimately dismissed with four balls still remaining.

"That was a game of millimetres really. Going into the last over, you backing yourself to get 7 runs off 6 balls with an in-batter like Dewald. Then he gets a ball that he would normally hit out of Harare and finds the toe end and it doesn't go for six. Then George (Linde) hit another and a hell of a catch by Mitchell. So, ifs and buts, but at the end of the day. It just wasn't meant to be,” Conrad said.

"Lhuan-dre is one of the bright prospects of South Africa and we saw that with the innings today. He's a classy young cricketer and exciting times lie ahead for him. There's obviously big tours against England and Australia as we build up to the T20 World Cup and I'm very happy for him. Young players go through a lot and sometimes don't know how to deal with it but for him to come back in the final and give us the foundation like he did was great. 

"Dewald is a special talent and he is hugely disappointed that he didn't take us home and this is the nature of T20. But he is a special talent and probably one of the sweetest strikers of the cricket ball in world cricket at the moment. 

“You never out of the game when you still have Dewald Brevis in the sheds. I think he will be better for the experience this week. But again, this is all part of the journey and development for him." 

Conrad admitted that death bowling had previously been a problem for his team and is something they have worked on, citing New Zealand's inability to strike boundaries in the last five overs of the final.

"I think we made huge strides when it comes to bowling at the death is concerned. Guys are clearer with their plans. In the last five overs, New Zealand only hit like two or three boundaries which is brilliant for us,” he said.

"I looked out on the field during the presentation and I think only like two or three guys were in the last T20 World Cup side. 

“So with such a young and inexperienced side to put up a performance today was good. It is also pleasing to see in pressure situations how the young guys like Lhuandre and Dewald stood up."

The Proteas’ next white-ball assignments are in Australia and England.