South Africa captain delighted with series victory

CAPE TOWN, Jan 6 (Reuters) Captain Graeme Smith was thrilled after South Africa won the third and final test by five wickets today to clinch the series 2-1.

''This series win is massive in all of our careers,'' Smith told a news conference. ''We knew how difficult it would be to come back from 1-0 down but we've played superb cricket and never given up.

''We played fantastic cricket to win (the second test) in Durban and the way we stuck to our game plan in this match made the win very meaningful.'' Smith made a bold tactical change on the final day by promoting all rounder Shaun Pollock, who batted at number eight in the first innings, to number four.

The move was designed to minimise the effects of a deteriorating pitch and approaching bad weather.

Pollock scored 37 and shared a brisk 72-run partnership for the third wicket with Smith (55).

''Before the ball got to the reverse swinging stage, there was a period where you could score freely,'' Smith said.

''It was important for us to take the initiative up front this morning and Shaun has all the experience and the ability.'' SUPERB ASSET The series was a tour de force for Pollock, who became the first South African to take 400 test wickets during the defeat in Johannesburg.

''You don't get to 400 wickets without knowing what you're doing,'' Smith said. ''I don't know how many compliments we can give the guy but he is a superb asset.'' Pollock said South Africa used their sixth place in the test rankings as a spur.

''We're not proud of where we are in the rankings and that was a motivating factor,'' he said.

''If we keep showing character like this you can expect us to start moving up the rankings.'' India coach Greg Chappell blamed his batsmen for the series defeat.

''The bowlers have done a pretty good job and to miss out on an opportunity to win the series was pretty disappointing,'' said Chappell.

''Our batting was disappointing in the last two tests. We're disappointed we got away to a good start and then let it get away from us.

''The centre areas of the pitch here were still pretty good and that makes our batting all the more disappointing because there weren't that many gremlins in the pitch.'' South Africa have named an unchanged squad of 16 for the three-match home test series against Pakistan which starts on Thursday.

REUTERS SRS PM0048