South Africa’s captain Aiden Markram felt getting as close as they did to winning the T20 World Cup showed they were “worthy finalists”. “Gutted” and “hurt” after South Africa’s heartbreak in the T20 World Cup final, skipper Aiden Markram was aware that they could have won the game against India while hunting down 177, which they felt was a “chasable total”.
South Africa stood so close to the trophy yet ended up so far. It was a game that kept the spectators on the edge of their seats with all its expected twists and turns.
30 needed from 30 balls and South Africa lets it go once again.
South Africa stood so close to the trophy yet ended up so far. They had a sniff at lifting their World Cup trophy when the equation read 26 runs needed in the final four overs. With Heinrich Klaasen bossing the spinners and David Miller waiting to open his arms on the other end, victory seemed just moments away from South Africa’s grasp.
But the dynamics and the calculus of the game shifted when Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah decided to bear the brunt of the power-hitting duo. The game went down the wire, but India held their nerves and emerged victorious with a 7-run win, leaving South Africa in a position from which they will take some time to reflect on their campaign.
After Klassen’s quick-fire fifty ended, things quickly changed, taking the game out of South Africa’s hands. In the next eighteen deliveries, South Africa lost two wickets while managing to put just ten turns on the board, leaving them in a peculiar situation in the final over. When Klaasen was muscling away spinners to pick effortless boundaries, South Africa looked destined to lift their maiden T20I trophy. However, things didn’t eventually fall in their favour, yet their inspiring journey remains a proud moment for them.
South African skipper Aiden Markram though dejected would be proud of his team to give enough a fight to the strong Indian team for the finals worthy a watch.
Aiden Markram proud of his team despite tough loss in T20 World Cup 2024 final to India
South African skipper Aiden Markram admitted that it hurts not to get over the line in the T20 World Cup 2024 final against Team India in Barbados. However, the 29-year-old equally expressed his pride at his side regarding their achievement in this multi-nation event.
The Proteas’ wait for silverware continues as India snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, winning by seven runs in a nail-biter on June 29. Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat first and Virat Kohli’s 76 set up a chase of 177. South Africa were ahead of the game for the most part but faltered in the slog overs.
At the post-match presentation, Markram said that he’s incredibly proud of their achievement but felt South Africa should have got over the line.
“I think it’ll take some time for us to have a really good reflection on a really good campaign that we’ve had. Obviously for the time being, it hurts quite a bit, but having said that, still incredibly proud of this group of players and everyone that’s involved in this team.
“A really good game of cricket, so on all fronts, really chuffed with the guys today. Not great to [not] get over the line, but incredibly proud of this group of people that we’ve got going here in our white-ball squad.”
The turning point of the match was Heinrich Klassen’s wicket when he edged one to Rishabh Pant off Hardik Pandya to perish for 52 off 27 deliveries. India shifted the pressure significantly on South Africa from that stage as they failed to score 16 off the final six deliveries.
“We never got comfortable” – Aiden Markram
With South Africa winning plenty of close matches before the final, the right-handed batter revealed that they never got that comfortable as T20 is quite fickle. He added:
“We’ve seen with a lot of our games in this campaign that it’s not really over until the last ball is bowled, so we never got comfortable. There’s always that element of scoreboard pressure, and especially at the back end, things happen quickly and can change quite quickly as well.
“But having said that, we got into a great position, which proves that we were worthy finalists and could have won the game today. Unfortunately didn’t, but still incredibly proud of the group.”
Virat Kohli received the Player of the Match award, while Jasprit Bumrah earned the Player of the Tournament award.