Batsmen failed to obey orders

In a pulsating thriller, the Windies lost their last three wickets in the final over of their innings to medium pacer Charl Langeveldt and King said the batsmen had failed to carry out the instruction given to them in the dressing room, which was to give the strike to all-rounder Dwayne Bravo.

"The instruction was to hit the ball and try and give the strike over to Dwayne (Bravo)," King said at the post-match press conference.

However, both Ian Bradshaw and Daren Powell were bowled attempting big shots while Corey Collymore was lbw playing across the line, leaving a helpless Bravo unbeaten on 21 and unable to face a ball in the last over, with the Windies needing a mere two runs to win and leave life in the five-match series.

The Australian, who took the coaching job last November, pointed to a lack of experience in the lower order that cost the Windies the match.

"It just highlights some of the experience of the boys and some of the thinking and their process that needs to change," King said.

The one-run victory propelled the tourists to their second series victory in the Caribbean after their 2-0 triumph in the just-ended Test series last week. South Africa lead the five match ODI series 3-0, following wins in Jamaica over the weekend. Games four and five are to be played at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad tomorrow and Sunday.

Meanwhile, Windies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul, trying to put on a brave face after the confidence draining loss, was philosophical about the close defeat, saying he had found positives to take into the last two games.

"From the start they got this morning, we came back well. All the bowlers did well in the last part of the innings," Chanderpaul said. "We went pretty close...still needed another two, but we didn’t get it. It’s just one of those things. The performance from today can set the tone for the next couple of games. I hope in Trinidad we can get it right," he added.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith hailed ice-cool man-of-the match Langeveldt after his final-over hat-trick heroics which clinched the series. "I know he’s got the skill but he really showed he’s got the mind and the heart for the situation," Smith said.

"The wicket was a good one and I thought if anything we were 20 or 30 runs shy of where we should have been. It was a tight game — we’ve been on the wrong side of so many — but the side showed a lot of character," Smith added.

Lngeveldt, who began the final over with West Indies needing just four for victory, said: "I’m used to bowling at the death when the pressure’s on. We’ve got a never say die attitude, we always pride ourselves on bowling to the last ball. It’s shown over the years — we never give up."