'We've been out-performed', admits Smith

Graeme Smith, South Africa's captain, admitted his side were struggling on the unfamiliar New Zealand wickets as they crashed to their third successive one-day defeat today at Dunedin.

South Africa went down by six wickets and they now trail New Zealand 3-1 in the six-match series. "It's fair to say we haven't adapted too well to the various pitches and grounds," Smith said. "The wicket was sort of spongy early on and we struggled."

Smith and Herschelle Gibbs made a slow start, scoring only 53 runs in the first 15 overs. Boeta Dippenaar made a scratchy 18 from 44 balls, while only Jacques Rudolph (70) and Nicky Boje (50) adjusted to the wicket.

New Zealand made short work of the total, with Hamish Marshall and Scott Styris sharing in a national record third-wicket partnership of 126. "There was a lot of pressure on us and we haven't been having good starts in some of the matches and today was the same," said Smith. "New Zealand have been very clinical in the last two games. They really out-performed us. I really think we've given it all and we've been out-performed and that's basically it."