Anrich Nortje says the Proteas’ pace bowlers wanted to send Australia’s batsmen a message during the final innings of the first Test in Brisbane.

The hosts lost four wickets while chasing down a small target of 34, all of which were taken by Proteas spearhead Kagiso Rabada.

While Nortje went wicketless at the other end, he also made life difficult for the Australian batsmen.

“I wanted to make sure it’s not going to be easy … it’s going to be hard to get,” the 29-year-old told the media on Friday ahead of the second Test at the MCG, which starts on Monday.

“Just coming as hard as we can during that session, during that short little time and making it uncomfortable – it went according to what we wanted to do.

“Not even a session – probably half a session – and the game could have been different and we could have been in a winning position.

“That’s how quick things were happening, so you can’t really take too much … you can’t look at losing by six wickets and say it’s a big margin on that wicket.”

Nortje says the Australians “definitely looked” uncomfortable against the Proteas’ short-pitched deliveries.

“It’s never nice getting a ball past your head at high speed,” he added. “We just need to be on it again.”

READ: ‘Proteas can come from behind again’

Australia opener David Warner’s batting woes continued in Brisbane, as he was dismissed for a golden duck and three, but Nortje insists the Proteas won’t be specifically targeting him at the MCG in what will be his 100th Test.

“We’re not really focused on that, we’re just trying to focus on where we need to land the ball, what we need to do to execute it,” he said. “We’re not too worried about who’s in form and who’s not, because it could change.

“There are a lot of dangerous players in the Australian team currently. I wouldn’t say it’s a specific name that pops up.”