It was New Zealand’s third defeat of the tournament, but despite wins over both Pakistan and Sri Lanka in their last two pool games in Bengaluru, the 2019 finalists will still face defeat in the knockout stage.
“It’s just two wins away,” Phillips said, adding that his 60 on Wednesday came too late to turn the tide.
“So, I think if we stick to our basics, which is what we do best on the field, everything will be fine.”
By choosing to field first, New Zealand captain Tom Latham played the game into South Africa’s hands and the Black Caps did not help themselves by missing a few chances, including a potential run out of De Kock.
“Obviously South Africa are incredibly strong batting first, but we have an incredibly good bowling line-up and there was no reason why we couldn’t restrict them to a score that could be chased,” he said. “Could have been very easy to do.” Philips.
