“Lot of Relief to Reach Semifinals”: SA Skipper Aiden Markram After T20 WC Super 8 Victory

After securing their spot in the semifinals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, South Africa’s captain Aiden Markram shared his thoughts on reaching the next stage of the prestigious event on Monday.

In a display of composure and resilience, Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada withstood impressive spells by Roston Chase and Alzarri Joseph, maintaining their unbeaten streak in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup with a three-wicket victory over West Indies in Antigua on Monday.

This triumph ensured South Africa concluded their Super Eights campaign undefeated, winning all three of their matches. England also advanced to the semifinals with two wins and one loss. Unfortunately, the host nation, West Indies, was eliminated, managing only one win and two losses in the Super Eights.

Markram praised his bowlers for their performance in assessing the conditions and keeping the opposition to a modest total. “A lot of relief to get through to the semifinal. We would have liked it to be a lot more convincing. The wicket was playing nicely after the rain break but we tried to kill the game too early. It put us in a tricky position but happy to get over the line. We bowled really well, assessed conditions and kept them to a sub-par total. We could have built a partnership after the break and then taken it from there, we will take that learning and hopefully not make the same mistake again,” Markram said during the post-match presentation.

He further commended his team, stating that both their bowlers and batters were performing well. “We picked Shamsi to have a mystery spinner against them and immediately saw it spinning, so we wanted to bowl as much spin as we could. If it wouldn’t spin that much then we would have used our pacers, not a lot of times when KG bowls only 2 overs. We have been doing really well, the bowling unit is firing and as a batting unit, it is about when to take the game on. We need to be smart in those situations. I haven’t been following but whoever it might be we have to put our best foot forward,” the 29-year-old added.

In the match, South Africa won the toss and opted to bowl first. The West Indies were reduced to 5/2 early on, but an 81-run partnership between Kyle Mayers (35 in 34 balls with three fours and two sixes) and Roston Chase (52 in 42 balls, with three fours and two sixes) revived their innings. Nevertheless, South Africa’s bowlers struck regularly, limiting the West Indies to 135/8 in their 20 overs. Tabraiz Shamsi (3/27) was the standout bowler for South Africa, with Marco Jansen, captain Aiden Markram, Keshav Maharaj, and Kagiso Rabada each taking a wicket.

Chasing a revised target of 123 runs in 17 overs due to rain, South Africa lost early wickets but managed to keep the match balanced. Despite crucial contributions from Tristan Stubbs (29 in 27 balls, with four boundaries) and Heinrich Klaasen (22 in 10 balls, with three fours and a six), they found themselves at 110/7 in 15.2 overs. However, Jansen (21*) and Rabada (5*) hit vital boundaries, completing the chase with five balls and three wickets remaining.

Roston Chase (3/12) was the best bowler for the West Indies, with Alzarri Joseph and Andre Russell each taking two wickets. This victory confirmed South Africa’s undefeated record in the Super Eights, while England advanced to the semifinals with two wins and a loss, and the West Indies were knocked out with one win and two losses.