"It would have been great to win the series 3-0," McCullum said. "But winning the series, achieving what we've achieved in this series and even how we've played today as well, we've showed the characteristics that we want to be known for."
New Zealand once again made a poor start after opting to bat at Potchefstroom. They were reduced to 68/4 before half centuries from Grant Elliot, Colin Munro and James Franklin took them to a respectable 260. Graeme Smith led the chase for the hosts with a sublime 116 but it needed a last ditch six from Ryan McLaren to seal the issue in their favour.
"Our bowlers tried hard all day. The wicket did skid on a little bit, and it was probably slightly easier to bat on in that second innings," McCullum said. "But that's the nature of the toss as well and playing in foreign conditions. I can't speak highly enough of the effort from our guys."
"I thought we showed some real character and some real fighting qualities to hang in there, when we were behind the eight ball and get ourselves back in the game. Graeme Smith's innings today was a phenomenal innings and deserved to be on the winning side."
New Zealand had endured humiliating defeats in the two Tests prior to the ODI series and McCullum felt that this series win was a big boost to the team. "We competed in the Twenty20s, but South Africa deserved the result; in Tests we were blown off the park by a team at the top of their game. It was a learning opportunity to see the best in action and see how far we need to improve, but to win the ODI series has been satisfying, not only for the group of players, but also for the management and the fans."
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