Proteas captain Aiden Markram cut a dejected figure as he fronted up to the press in the wake of their T20 World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand on Wednesday.
South Africa had no answers to the Black Caps’ belligerence with the bat as Finn Allen blasted an unbelievable 33-ball century, helping New Zealand chase down 169 in just 12.5 overs.
Reduced to 77/5 in the 11th over, the Proteas actually did well to recover to set 170, largely thanks to a delightful 55 off 30 from Marco Jansen. But after a fast start with the bat from Kiwi openers Allen’s knock and Tim Seifert, the game was lost.
“Obviously, disappointed with the result,” said Markrham, whose charges were the only undefeated team left in the competition.
“But very proud of this group of guys. They played some really good cricket throughout this comp. And just an unfortunate evening, really.
“To get to 170 was a great effort, to be fair. At the halfway point, we really felt like we had a sniff. But then, as it goes in T20 cricket, their powerplay got off to a flyer, and you can’t protect every boundary, unfortunately. And they got away, and then from there it was really hard to pull it back. So, you give massive credit to Finn Allen’s knock, Tim Seifert’s knock to kill the game as early as they did. And unfortunately, it was just that bad night for us tonight.”
The semifinal loss came off the back of a purple patch of form by the Proteas. They arrived at the T20 World Cup fresh off winning a series against West Indies, then trounced New Zealand by seven wickets, won a nailbiter against Afghanistan, defeated favourites India by 76 runs, then walloped the West Indies by nine wickets to secure their place in the final four.
But Markram knows this is not the end of the road for this group of players and is already looking to the future.
“And all you do is you break down the game and try to find the areas that could have been better,” he continued.
“And you get back on the horse and you try and improve as a group and as individuals. And hopefully that puts you in good stead for the future.”
Somewhat ironically, that future starts with a five-match T20I tour of New Zealand, starting 15 March in Mount Maunganui.
