Smith disappointed with the result

Graeme Smith was left rueing the team's bad luck after rain forced abandonment of the final of the TVS Cup one-day cricket match match against India.

South African skipper Graeme Smith was left rueing the team's bad luck after rain forced abandonment of the final of the TVS Cup one-day cricket match match against India in which his team enjoyed an upper hand during the brief period when play was possible.

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South Africa had India pinned down at 46 for three in the 18th over and Smith admitted the team was "disappointed that the match could not go on".

"We had the Indians under serious pressure at that stage though anything could have happened," Smith said after India and South Africa were declared joint winners following a rain enforced abandonment for the second time in as many days.

But the young South African skipper also conceded that "it was too early" to predict the outcome of the match.

"Just 17 overs were bowled. It was too early to say what could have happened," Smith said before hastening to add "but we had the strong Indians in some trouble".

Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly did not attend the press conference.

Overall, Smith was happy with the progress made by his young side in this tournament.

"As a team we have come a long way since the first two matches of the series. We are a lot more positive now and have started believing in our abilities," the 22-year-old skipper said.

A new-look South African team suffered a defeat against India before regrouping and scripting a win against them in the league stage of the tournament in which they won three of their four matches before making it to the final.

"We are going on the right track. There is still a lot of hard work to be done but I am quite happy with the way we have performed here," said Smith, South Africa's youngest ever skipper.

Smith said his young team had adapted well to the hot and humid conditions and the players could draw a lot of heart from their show here.

"We adapted quickly and started getting our combinations right. It took us two matches but now we know we can come back fighting. It is a very positive thing," Smith said.

South Africa were thrown out of the World Cup in their own backyard, failing to make it past the first round. Their disastrous show resulted in wholesale changes in the side and the TVS Cup was the first test of the team packed with youngsters and headed by a skipper who was not even a part of the original World Cup squad.

Smith said he was now looking forward to the two-Test series against the hosts and the subsequent tour of England.

"We have to consolidate on the gains of this series. One-dayers and Test cricket are two different games. We need to plan differently. The series against Bangladesh will help us prepare (ahead of the tougher battles ahead)," he said.

Smith also ruled out the possibility of any reinforcement for the Test series against the hosts. "We will have the same squad," he said emphatically which would mean all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who had pulled out of the one-day series to attend to his ailing father, would not be there for the Tests also.

Young paceman Allan Dawson, who was adjudged the man of the series for his tournament haul of 12 wickets, said he emerged successful because he had learnt to adapt to the conditions here.

"The conditions here are different but I realised that you have got to vary your bowling to be able to get wickets. You do not get much swing as the balls get scuffed fast," he said.

Dawson said he was happy to have played a significant role in his first tour with the senior team and got a lot of backing from his skipper.

"We had to bowl differently. I must admit that (Graeme) Smith helped me a lot. He set the right field which helped me a lot," he said.