New Zealand cricketers celebrate the dismissal of Graeme Smith in Mumbai on Monday. (AP)

Mumbai: South Africa captain Graeme Smith termed the wicket as sub-standard and hit out at the schedule of Champions Trophy.

“The wicket wasn’t up to the standard and deteriorated progressively as the day went. Batting became increasingly difficult. The ball was turning square and was stopping too,” the Proteas’ captain said after his team’s 87-run loss.

“The toss may become crucial in the tournament. The wicket’s top broke up. You have to go by gut instinct (on what to do after winning the toss),” said Smith, who top-scored with 42 after inserting New Zealand.

“Robbie (Peterson) bowled well, but it was a spinner’s paradise. Even I was turning the ball,” he pointed out.

Smith refused to blame poor shot selection by his batsmen for being dismissed for 108 in 34.1 overs chasing Black Caps’ 195.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming praised his bowlers for doing a good job in powering the Black Caps to a comprehensive 87-run victory.

“It’s good to start with a win after a big break (from cricket). I thought we had made a costly mistake when I fell with five overs left and we had fallen short by 20 or 30 runs,” Fleming, who top-scored with a match-winning 89 in his team’s total of 195, said.

“But once we saw the ball was stopping we felt we had a good chance (to win the game),” said the left-handed opener.

But Fleming did not blame the wicket like his South African counterpart.

“The pitch was different to the ones we had played on when we visited India a few years ago. It was a very dry wicket, quite a change. Kyle Mills’ early breakthroughs were very important,” he said.

Mills claimed the first three wickets while Jacob Oram and rookie spinner Jeetan Patel also grabbed three each.