"It was obviously a breakdown of communication but in these days of professional sport where you're being paid good money, you shouldn't really make that mistake," Waugh told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.

South Africa tied their final rain-affected match against Sri Lanka on Monday in Durban to go out of the tournament.

The home side were still well-placed when heavy rain cut short the game. South Africa, on 229 for six, were one run short of the score required for victory under the Duckworth-Lewis scoring system for rain-affected run chases.

"As a captain, you get the (Duckworth-Lewis) printout at the end of the innings so you know exactly what the situation is," Waugh told reporters in Sydney.

"I think you can get it ball-by-ball, so I find it hard to believe that they had a mix-up on that one."

Pollock said after the game that 12th man Nicky Boje had been sent on the pitch to tell batsman Mark Boucher that 229 runs were enough to win. In reality, 230 were required.

Boucher hit what proved to be the penultimate ball of the match for six to take the score to 229, then defended the final delivery of the 45th over before the umpires called off the match.

Some commentators believe South Africa failed to realise that the Duckworth-Lewis over-by-over tables show what is needed to tie a game, not win it.

South Africa's team management, however, say Boje was turned back by the umpires and was not allowed to explain the full situation to vice-captain Boucher.

Waugh captained Australia to victory in the World Cup final over Pakistan in 1999, after qualifying for the final following a tied semi-final against South Africa.

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What do you think about the story? Read what others have to say: Number of User Comments: 8 Sub: Not much of difference What is the big deal over that "one run"?. Even if SA would have taken that one run and won the match, they could not ... Posted by Thiagarajan Sub: SA blunder. Duckworth Lewis formula is slightly complicated.In such important matches with easy access to technology,shouldn't the required scores be flashed ball by ball on the giant ... Posted by Gautam Mookerjee Sub: Attention Pollock I agree with what Steve have said regarding Pollock's disagreement with the present system. Proffessional crickters of South Africa should not spend time working in ... Posted by kaniska Sub: SA Exit We are all felt sorry for South Africa.The D/L system is always controversial from its inception.It is really a DAPPA lewis system.It means in Tamil,there ... Posted by Etti Sundaresan Sub: Scoreboard to Show DuckWorth-Lewis Targets. For the interest of the game it is appropriate that Duckworth-Lewis Targets are constantly reflected in the score board. Or it should be available on ... Posted by Rishikesh Basu