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T20 WC 2024 – Final – Ind vs SA – Aiden Markram – ‘It hurts quite a bit’ but ‘incredibly proud’

The South Africa captain felt he had come as close as he could to winning the T20 World Cup, showing they were “worthy finalists”

‘We’ve seen in many of our games this campaign that it’s not really over until the last ball is bowled, so we’ve never felt comfortable’ Getty Images

Thirty runs from as many balls. This was the equation that separated South Africa from a first World Cup title, from the end of a journey filled with countless heartaches. ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster gave them a 96.65% chance of winning and lifting the T20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval.

That was not to be, as India staged one of the most dramatic bowling comebacks in the history of the T20 format, and South Africa harbored a feeling they have experienced so many times before in so many global events. However, their captain Aiden Markram was proud of their efforts and a campaign that took them eight wins in the run-up to Saturday’s defeat.

“I think it will take a while before we have a proper reflection on a very good season that we have had,” Markram said at the post-match presentation. “For now, of course, it hurts a bit, but having said that, I am still incredibly proud of this group of players and everyone involved in this team.”

After losing the toss, they bowled first and held India to 176 for 7, which Markram called a chaseable total. Their batters couldn’t quite finish the job that day, but Markram didn’t blame them.

“Yeah, I thought they (South Africa’s bowlers) bowled well,” he said. “I don’t think there was a lot to work with, pitch-wise, so I thought they did a good job of restricting them to what we thought was a chaseable total, and I thought we batted really well as well, and (it) came down to the last minute.

“A really good game of cricket, so all round, really pleased with the lads today. Not great to (not) get over the line, but incredibly proud of this group of people we have here in our white-ball team.”

Although South Africa went into the final with a perfect record, a number of their victories – even those against associate teams Netherlands, Nepal and the USA – came at the end of hard-fought matches. Markram suggested that this experience meant that South Africa never felt relaxed, even when they were seemingly in control of the final.

“We’ve seen in a lot of our games this campaign that it’s not really over until the last ball has been thrown, so we’ve never been comfortable. There’s always that element of scoreboard pressure, and especially at the back things happen quickly and they can also change quickly.

“But having said that, we came out in a great position which proves we were worthy finalists and could have won the game today. Unfortunately we didn’t, but still incredibly proud of the group.”

In the end, the cricket team in South Africa was left with a familiar sense of pain, which has always been underpinned by the country’s complicated history, as mentioned in this ESPNcricinfo article by Firdose Mooda. Ian Bishop brought up a phrase used in this article: ‘They don’t know what we know’, and Markram hoped South Africa could draw strength from that sentiment.

“Yeah, hopefully (it sets us up) in a really good way,” Markram said. “One thing that’s for sure about a South African, wherever they are in the world, is that they’re a very competitive person, a very respectful person, and a person who goes down with a fight. So that’s something we’re proud of as a group. Hopefully, going forward, we can learn a lot from those few things and continue to use the skill side of the sport well. It’s still a proud moment for us.”

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