Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma again batted for his teammate Quinton de Kock by highlighting Aiden Markram's exquisite throw, whose direct hit at the stumps ran out Pakistan batsman Fakhar Zaman last Sunday.
While some accused De Kock of using miserly, deceptive tactics to distract Zaman from completing his run, Bavuma said Markram's direct hit was the major factor in getting the danger man out in the second ODI at the Wanderers.
In the last over of the match, with Pakistan needing 30 to win, De Kock appeared to gesture for Markram to throw to the bowler's end, where Haris Rauf was headed.
Zaman, who was on 193, looked away from Markram's direction, as he was running towards the keeper's end and was surprised when Markram's throw hit the stumps at his end.
The Proteas won the match by 17 runs after posting 341/6 in the first innings of the Pink Day ODI.
"In the moment … I thought it was a clever piece of thinking by Quinton," Bavuma told Thabiso Mosia on SAFM Monday night.
"But it was also a brilliant piece of fielding by Aiden. The batsman, Fakhar Zaman took on one of our better fielders in the team.
"As much as Quinton might have signalled in a different direction, we can't overlook the fact that it was a direct hit from the boundary.
"Whether Quinton supposedly 'deceived him', I think he (Zaman) would have still been struggling. A direct hit is always close. You can't overlook the brilliant piece of fielding.
"But in the moment, I thought it was clever piece of thinking from the fielders. We always talk about being streetwise and, at that time, it was a situation where we had to make something happen."
Bavuma said, by the time of going on the radio programme, that he hadn't yet seen the match highlights to see what the "frenzy" was about.
Although he was obviously on the park at the time, he didn't hear De Kock verbally try to deceive Zaman into thinking Markram's throw was going to the opposite end.
"I didn't hear anything. I saw the ball hitting the stumps," said Bavuma.
"I haven't seen the highlights, but I've heard there's a bit of a frenzy about it. I haven't gone and investigated it – and I don't think that's my job, really.
"I think what has happened, has happened. There's not much we can do at this point in time.
"I'm not going to take away the fact that I thought it was a brilliant piece of fielding from Aiden, considering the moment."
Bavuma added that De Kock, who captained the national team from 2020 until 2021, was a "street-smart" cricketer but was not out to "deceive" his opponents.
"Quinton is a street-smart cricketer," said Bavuma.
"But to say 'deceive' is quite a … it has a strong negative connotation to it. It doesn't speak well to a player's character, so, no I wouldn't use that word.
"I could pose the question: If a fast bowler bowls a slower ball and tries to deceive the batter, as you going to [question] whether that is something that is allowed?"