South African skipper complimented the UAE team for their gutsy effort in the 146-run loss on Thursday at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, and also defended his bowlers for their aggressive tactics.

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Several UAE batsmen, including Khurram Khan and Shaiman Anwar, who were both struck twice on the body, received blows that are sure to keep team physio Sudhakar busy for the next couple of days.

But de Villiers said the line and length used by his bowlers was the demand of the pitch conditions, adding that it was not the blueprint for their bowling attack for the quarter-final and beyond.

“It all depends on the conditions that we face on the day,” said de Villiers, who made 99 for his side.

“The wicket, there was a bit of dew around. We didn’t start off like that. I think in the first 10 overs there was only one bouncer. The dew meant that the wicket sped up a bit, got a bit quicker, and the shorter ball came into play.

“In any situation we will try and assess the conditions and see what kind of delivery will work the best to get us wickets. Tonight, the shorter ball, because of the fact it skidded on nicely, came into play. Moving forward, I won’t say it’s a set game plan but if we get a similar wicket again, it’ll definitely be part of the plan.”

De Villiers was delighted with the overall efforts of his team, adding: “It was a good performance. Those are always tricky games. I thought they bowled pretty well up front and made it difficult for us.

“It was one of my harder knocks up there today, really had to work, which means that they bowled well. They went and batted well, and they made us work for our runs.

“We got a nice foundation again, which I’m very happy about, and we could free up nicely towards the end. I’m very happy about the fact that Quinny (de Kock) scored some runs, Farhaan scored some runs, some of the low order got an opportunity to hit a couple of balls.

“Those kind of things will definitely help us going into the knockout rounds. I won’t say that the win has given us the confidence to believe that we’re better than ever before, but still, these games need to be respected, and I think that the boys rocked up here with a great attitude today.”

South Africa’s quarter-finals is likely to be against Sri Lanka in Sydney on Wednesday, March 18.