Aiden Markram has identified the Proteas’ batting frailties as an area needing improvement ahead of their T20I decider against the West Indies in Grenada on Saturday.

This comes after the Proteas fell well-short during their chase in the fourth T20I where they lost by 21 runs, all the while chasing a reachable target of 167.

Markram scored 20 runs and, aside from Quinton de Kock’s 60, the side struggled to make any headway and gain any sort of momentum with the bat.

Four of the top seven batsmen scored single-digit scores, with David Miller being one of the three other exceptions, scoring a lowly 12. This all accumulated in the side failing to get on top of their required rate at any point in their chase.

This provides cause for concern for South Africa and Markram was fully aware of what needed improvement ahead of the much-anticipated series finale.

“With the bat, specifically being a bad area, we can build better partnerships,” he said.

“It’s tough when they bowl like they do; when they use the wind and the one long boundary as well.

“We will chat about that going into the next game tomorrow and then hopefully counteract what they throw at us.”

Although acknowledging that they hadn’t put in their perkiest of performances yesterday, Markram drew positives from the situation they currently find themselves in, especially as the side looks ahead to the rest of the season.

“It’s maybe not a bad thing going into a series decider, [to be level] 2-2. It’s going to put all our skills under pressure and it’s good for going into ICC events not just this year, but over the next few years.

“It wasn’t our best performance, but having said that I think there were a few standout performances. I still think with the ball we were brilliant, bar one or two overs.

“With the bat, if we can be five to 10 per cent better there, then it’d put us in good stead.”

With the Proteas having bowled first yesterday, the 26-year-old said the wicket “naturally slowed up” as the match wore on, which, according to him, they expected to happen.

The South African bowlers managed to stall the West Indians’ innings drastically after an expensive first over where Markram was smashed for 20.

The spinning duo of George Linde and Tabraiz Shamsi were largely to thank for that, while also having shared four wickets between them. The Proteas then conceded 43 runs in the last two overs, which Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi were accounted for.

“I know at the backend they got away, but still, 160 on that wicket was really chaseable and then we just couldn’t get any momentum with the bat, unfortunately.

“It wasn’t due to a lack of trying – it was just the nature of the wicket and it suited their bowlers who take a lot of pace off.

“It was a tough day for us but it now gives us opportunities to learn, and hopefully not make the same mistakes going into the series decider.”

The Proteas managed to grind out a closely-fought one-run win in the third T20I, and it was that sort of tenacity that Markram felt had “instilled quite a lot of belief” within the team.

“It’s important to win the small margins,” he said. “It was great to get over the line in game 3, because in the past couple of years we’ve just fallen short in those close games.

“Going into the series decider, we haven’t yet put in a complete cricket performance, which is an exciting thing.

“If we can put in our best performance in a very high-pressure game and against a quality team, then it would certainly mean a lot to this squad.”