Smith praised young left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell, who picked up three wickets to wreck England's batting before Jacques Kallis hit a half-century to guide the Proteas home.
"We performed well with the ball and everyone in the field played their role well with intensity," he said.
"Parnell has been superb. He's just come in, he's very young and he's handled everything really well.
He bowled with pace and control.
The crowd was against us but he handled the situation very well.
"
Kallis, who also chipped in with two wickets, said he has been concentrating on improving his bowling.
"I've worked on it for the last two or three years.
I discovered lots of variations in the IPL (Indian Premier League)," said the veteran all-rounder who played for the Bangalore Royal Challengers.
"We knew if someone stayed at the wicket and we got a run a ball, we'd be okay. I think this was a 140-wicket so our bowlers did really well to restrict them.
"
Owais Shah was the lone Englishman to w