Proteas captain Temba Bavuma says the seven sessions lost because of rain cost them victory in the first Test match against the West Indies.
South Africa and their Caribbean hosts played to a draw in the first of two five-dayers on Monday, with rain wreaking havoc at the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago.
There was enough action, though, for the Proteas to shake off some ring rust after playing their last Test at the start of the year.
SA batted first against their hosts and totalled 357 all out in their first innings, with opener Tony de Zorzi (78), Bavuma (86) and Wiaan Mulder (41*) getting runs while spinner Jomel Warrican took 4/69.
The Windies were then bowled out for 233, with Keshav Maharaj taking 4/76 and speedster Kagiso Rabada 3/56 to give SA a first-innings lead of 124 runs.
With a vrag tyd lost because of rain, SA then scored 173/3 in just 29 overs on the final day (De Zorzi 45 and Tristan Stubbs 68 off just 50 balls) to set the hosts a winning target of 298.
They chased after it, with Alick Athanaze scoring 92, but Maharaj took 4/88 as the Windies ended on 201/5 to secure the draw.
Of the result, Bavuma says: “We tried our best to really make the most of what was put in front of us. The weather got the best of what could have been a good, competitive, game of cricket.
“From a batting point of view, if I look at the way we went about our business in the second innings, we came out with good positive intent and tried to give ourselves enough time by taking on the game. With our bowling, it was going to be tough with the limited time we had…”
The second and final Test starts on Thursday.