National coach Gus Logie's scathing attack on his players after last Thursday's capitulation against Canada might have provided the motivation for Saturday's unexpected thrashing of Holland.

And while Logie was delighted how his side responded, snapping a six-match losing streak in emphatic fashion, he was at a loss to explain why they couldn't have shown similar form in earlier games.

"It really hurts to have to make that kind of criticism in order to get a performance like this, but like everything else a bit of tough love is needed at some stage," said the coach.

"And it just shows . . . look at the the way they performed today, look at the energy, look at the enthusiasm. Everybody was pulling together, supporting each other. Why couldn't they have done that earlier? "In saying that, I just want to congratulate Hurdle (three for 30), I think he bowled well, Mukuddem (four for 40) as well, and you know all the bowlers chipped in today and did their part, and in the field we looked sharper than in the past.

"And when we batted, we had a few hiccups. I keep saying batting is our strength and again we saw with just a few runs to go, the captain getting out . . . a situation like that, it's something, the mental side of the game, that we have to work on.

"But it was certainly good to see Hemp coming into his own again and playing well, he has been quite consistent throughout the tour and Mukuddem as well has had a great tour.

"You know we have individuals in the team who can do the job. But we need to believe in ourselves a lot more, we need to trust each other, respect each other. We need to respect the game and we need to work hard.

"The players have in it themselves to be victorious. You know coaches don't win matches, all they can do is prepare players to the best of their ability. The players have to go out there and execute the game plan, to think and to assess.

"At the the end of the day, if the players can do that more consistently, I think we'll enjoy more days like these, no two ways about it."

Besides lifting the players, Saturday's victory, said Logie would go a long way towards helping lift his own spirits and the rest of the management team.

"I think that's something people tend to overlook, but as coaches and as managers when you think you're working hard and you're not getting the rewards, you do feel down at times.

"You're expected to lift the players, but performances like today help lift you as a coach, and make you want to go on. It means at the end of the day, it's not a worthless cause . . . you're seeing development, you're seeing potential.

"More often than not we overlook the fact that coaches do need a lift from players as well.

"I think today's been one of those days. It gives you the impetus to move forward, it gives you the enthusiasm to continue working with the guys." Logie, meanwhile, didn't buy into the argument that Holland conceded victory on Saturday, having already secured the series title.

"It was about boasting rights," he said. "Nobody wants to go out of a series on a losing note, especially after having won the competition. You want to prove you've been superior to the other teams.

"We're going to be playing them again soon in Nairobi (January) and I'm certain we will be going into that game with this victory on our minds. We'll be confident about ourselves.

"And you know, I think it was more about the manner in which we won today. It wasn't just a victory, it was a victory with authority.

"But we've got to move on from here, we've got to work hard. All the disciplines we've been talking about have to come into play. There's still a lot to do."