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South Africa captain Aiden Markram hailed a “special” performance by his bowlers who bowled out Afghanistan for just 56 to crush them by nine wickets and reach their maiden men’s World Cup final.
After Afghanistan chose to bat in Tarouba, South Africa’s pace trio of Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje reduced their opponents to 28 for 6 in 6.3 overs. Tabraiz Shamsi then chipped in with three wickets as Afghanistan were skittled for their lowest T20I total.
“I mean, fortunate to have lost the toss, I guess. We also would have batted, so we got a bit of luck with regards to that,” Markram said at the presentation ceremony. “But the bowlers still had to get it in the right areas.
“They got enough balls in the right areas and made life really tough for the Afghanistan batters. So, credit to them.
“They’ve been incredible throughout this whole competition for us. They’ve kept things really simple and sort of assessed conditions and adapted their plans accordingly. And they’ve been incredible for us so far.”
In their chase, South Africa lost Quinton de Kock in the second over, but that was the only hiccup they faced. After a series of close-fought wins in their run to the semi-final, South Africa ensured they registered a comfortable win in Tarouba, with Reeza Hendricks and Markram knocking off the target in 8.5 overs.
There were, however, questions around the pitch which saw a lot of movement and bounce right from the start. A fresh pitch was used for this game, the fifth at the Brian Lara Stadium in this World Cup, which had patches of grass, prominent cracks and then saw uneven bounce as the game went on.
“Yeah, it’s quite tough,” Markram said about the pitch. “I mean, a batter is not going to lie to you and say that once you get it up and down, it doesn’t play a role in your mind.
“But we knew it was a matter of a partnership, taking this thing out a bit up front. Had a bit of luck once again, which we’re fortunate for, and managed to get a bit of a partnership. And from there, it’s going to be a little bit easier.
“So, chuffed to have got it over the line,” Markram said, acknowledging the nervy nature of their wins in the previous stages of the competition.
“A lot of our games have been really close. And I know there’s a lot of people back at home in the early hours of the morning, waking up and we’re giving them a lot of grey hairs. So, hopefully this evening was a little bit more comforting for them.”
