Wolvaardt 'pretty frustrated' after Proteas go close, but no hurrah in Pakistan series whitewash

Proteas women's captain, Laura Wolvaardt, bemoaned South Africa's frustrating T20 series defeat to Pakistan in Karachi.

On Monday, the Proteas fell six runs short in the third and final T20 at the National Stadium.

READ | Wolvaardt's knock not enough for Proteas women as Pakistan clean sweep T20 series

Chasing 151 runs to win in the dead rubber, Wolvaardt stood tall for the Proteas as she brought up her eighth T20 half-century.

She smashed a career-high total of 72 off 54 balls (hitting nine fours) but could not take her side over the line as she was dismissed in the 19th over.

The Proteas, who were T20 Women's World Cup finalists earlier this year, were restricted to 144-5. The result saw the home side secure their first-ever series whitewash against South Africa.

Wolvaardt, who was awarded player of the match for her heroics, was disappointed with the Proteas' discipline, acknowledging that Pakistan were the better team.

"A tough series and pretty frustrated to come pretty close in all three games and just be on the losing side," Wolvaardt told reporters on Monday.

"I think Pakistan played very well overall. I think they played well to their conditions and they rotated strike a lot better than us. They bowled a lot slower and it was harder to hit - they bowled really well."

The SA women shift their focus to the upcoming three-match ODIs at the same venue, with the first one-dayer starting on Friday.

Wolvaardt added that there was a lot to reflect on ahead of the ODIs as the Proteas look to turn around their fortunes on the tour of Pakistan.

"Cricket is a funny game sometimes and I do think we played good cricket in patches throughout the series," she said.

"I don't think it was just weaknesses and I think we can reflect on the