There were too few runs for the Black Caps to protect at Eden Park last night as South Africa clinched a comprehensive six wicket win to seal the ODI series 3-2.
New Zealand were all out for 149 in the 42nd over and although they refused to lie down in the field, the Proteas had a relatively easy cruise to their target.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who lost the toss, feels Eden Park's a tricky venue to work out a winning total when you're batting first.
"It was far from easy, but that's when a lot of fight needs to be shown to build those partnerships and get a competitive score," said Williamson.
"As we've seen here before, it's very tough to know what a good first innings score is."
South Africa's victory returns them to the number one world ranking after losing it briefly following their loss in Hamilton earlier in the week.
"South Africa, once again, bowled very, very well and made life difficult for us."
Williamson was adamant there were some positives to take away from the performance, particularly his side's efforts in the field in defending a lowly total.
"That second half I can't fault.
"In the huddle we were talking about the Australia game and how things can change so quickly on this ground, and I thought the fielding effort and the bowling effort was superb.
While the Blackcaps were encouraged by the Proteas powerhouse AB de Villiers was dismissed relatively cheaply, ultimately they simply didn’t have enough of a total to defend.
"We knew we were short of where we wanted to be, but we still believed that if we put them under pressure, things can happen quickly out there.
"We knew we were never far away, but it would've been much nicer to have had a few more runs on the board, that's for sure."
The skipper again pointed towards the unique challenges posed by Eden Park when citing the wholesale failures with the bat.
"It's tough to rotate the strike out there, and when you are under pressure and lose wickets that's something that you want to do in order to get a bit of momentum back."
"Our batting smarts weren't where they need to be on this ground."
The first Test between the Blackcaps and South Africa starts Wednesday 15th March in Dunedin.
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