- Proteas stand-in skipper Heinrich Klaasen was not happy with middle-order slow down that cost them the game.
- South Africa started the chase of 170 very well, but Pakistan's spinners took a firm grip on the chase after the powerplay.
- Usman Qadir's and Mohammad Nawaz's eight overs went for just 42, along with two wickets.
Proteas stand-in 20 skipper Heinrich Klaasen said their middle-overs stutter played a crucial role in their three-run defeat to Pakistan in the first T20 in Lahore on Thursday.
South Africa started their chase of 170 very well with Janneman Malan clubbing and 29-ball 44 with eight fours and one six.
His wicket and that of debutant Jacques Snyman (two) slowed the Proteas down significantly and they were unable to regain the momentum that saw them race to 51/0 in six overs.
Pakistan's leg-spinner Usman Qadir claimed both wickets and alongside left-arm spinner, Mohammad Nawaz applied a squeeze that asphyxiated the visitors.
There were also soft moments with the ball that allowed Mohammad Rizwan to score the unbeaten 64-ball 104 that underpinned Pakistan's 169/6.
"The two wickets we lost in the early phase didn't help us and it put us on the back foot, especially when we were chasing 170. I thought they were about 10 runs short. I hope in the next game we are able to raise our intensity for the middle phase and hopefully be able to get over the line," Klaasen said.
"We don't like losing, especially when we made life difficult for ourselves. One or two things didn't go the way we planned with the ball. We'll go back and reassess those one or two overs, but I was pleased with how the bowlers went. It was those four or five overs in the middle where we really made life difficult for ourselves. We could have chased less than what we did and we could have got over the line."
South Africa's openers in Reeza Hendricks (54) and Malan did their best to get the Proteas to the target in varying ways.
Hendricks bided his time during the Malan onslaught, but when the wickets fell around him, he guided the chase as best as he could with his 38-ball 50 that took South Africa close.
When he was run out in the 18th over, the lower order was left with too much to do even though Dwaine Pretorius and Bjorn Fortuin narrowed the occasion with some late boundaries. Klaasen though knew the game was lost in the middle overs.
"We were very happy with the start that we got. Reeza only faced four or five balls, so he didn't make that much of an impact at the time and Janneman played a very good knock there. It was unfortunate that he got out at the time that he did. We lost the game between overs seven and 10," Klaasen said.