LONDON — Kagiso Rabada admits his South Africa team-mates must learn the painful lessons from their dismal World Cup campaign. Faf du Plessis's side were eliminated from the tournament with two games to play after losing to Pakistan at Lord's on Sunday.

It is only the second time South Africa have failed to make the World Cup knockout stages and the post-mortem has already begun. Proteas paceman Rabada hopes the squad can emerge wiser as a result of their chastening run in England and Wales.

"There have been times where we've been really unlucky. At the same time, there have been times where we have let ourselves down," he said. "But there are plenty of learnings. That's why we play this game. It's not easy.

"As much as you want to be at the top, you will never find it smooth sailing. It's extremely tough and when you're playing out there, you experience all these feelings, the highs and the lows and that's part of the game."

South Africa have games against Sri Lanka and Australia before they can return home. And former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis has told his country to follow the example of England, who struggled at the World Cup four years ago but have now established themselves as contenders for the title.

"Now the key is to bounce back and to plan forward and stay positive," Rabada said. We will definitely be back firing and looking to really nail some of the things we wanted to nail in this tournament."

Rabada has been one of South Africa's biggest World Cup disappointments. He has taken just six wickets at an average of 50.83, a surprising dip after a superb Indian Premier League season.

"I got a lot more results in the IPL. In this tournament, I think I have just done okay," Rabada said. “I would have liked to have done better. These are the tournaments you really want to stand up in." — AFP