West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo wished there had been an extra ball to prevent what he called a "sad end" to a thrilling match which led to his team being eliminated from the Champions Trophy on net run-rate.

Before Ryan McLaren started what turned out to be the final over, West Indies were four runs ahead of the par score, which was 186 for 5 after 26 overs. After just one ball, which witnessed Kieron Pollard caught brilliantly at wide third man by Dale Steyn, the equation had changed in South Africa's favour as the par scores were tied and West Indies had played their delivery of the tournament.

Bravo along with his predecessor Darren Sammy were left stranded in the wet as the South Africans vanished within a moment when the umpires decided the rain was too heavy.

When Steve Davis and Rod Tucker decided to call off the match it was roughly 20 minutes after the official closing time of 7.22 pm which accounted for the extra hour allocated in the playing conditions. In fact, it is understood that Andy Pycroft, the match referee, had thought hard about imposing a penalty on South Africa, who it turns out were slightly behind the over rate. But the match officials had been lenient to both teams while allowing as many allowances as they could to extend the game despite the late drizzle which was making things difficult for everyone.

In the end Bravo made it clear he was not blaming the umpires. "I must be honest that I am disappointed with the way the game ended," he said. "But I am not disappointed at what the umpires did - they had a job do and do to the best of their abilities. We as players have no control over any decision they make.