Deflated Proteas coach Mark Boucher says his side has only themselves to blame after their T20 World Cup campaign ended with a shock defeat to the Netherlands.

The Dutch stunned the Proteas by 13 runs in Adelaide – a victory that also propelled India into the semi-finals – in the latest of a series of surprise results at the tournament.

South Africa had been touted as outside favourites to win the competition but they are now heading home after failing to get out of the weaker of the two Super 12 groups.

It extended their wretched record in white-ball World Cups.

“I think if you look at our T20 side, we’ve got a good team. We believe that on our day, we can beat anyone,” said Boucher, for whom it was a hugely disappointing way to end his reign as coach.

“That’s why I say it’s disappointing to have an exit like this with this particular squad because I do believe we deserve better as a squad.

“We’ve got ourselves to blame, but I think our T20 side is in a good position.”

HIGHLIGHTS: Proteas vs Netherlands

The 45-year-old Boucher admitted that it was among the worst defeats of his career.

“I think if you look at the way that we started the game, our energies were low,” he said.

“Our plans were there, but we didn’t quite use them well enough. The Netherlands outbowled us, they bowled to the longer side of the field and were able to create more pressure than we were able to create pressure on them.”

Proteas captain Temba Bavuma said it was a “hard one to swallow”.

He added: “We had the confidence and belief in ourselves as a unit to make the playoffs. We lost wickets at crucial times. They used the dimensions of the field a lot better than we did.”

READ: Pakistan reach T20 World Cup semis

© Agence France-Presse