T20 World Cup 2024: It hurts quite a bit but incredible proud of the players – Aiden Markram after final loss

South African skipper Aiden Markram shared his disappointment after they could not cross the last hurdle against India in the final of the T20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on Saturday. The Proteas were in a shoo-in position, needing a run-a-ball 30 to win their maiden World Cup title but ended up losing by seven runs.

Heinrich Klaasen, who was batting brilliantly on 52, was dismissed by Hardik Pandya while chasing a wide slower delivery. Subsequently, Jasprit Bumrah was able to clean up Marco Jansen as he found the gulf between bat and pad. 

David Miller, who was South Africa’s last hope in the situation, was caught magnificently by Suryakumar Yadav, at the boundary rope on the first ball of the final over. Ergo, the Proteas were not able to keep their calm towards the fag end.

Meanwhile, South Africa had a great run throughout the World Cup as they remained unbeaten till the final. They were able to win some close games and also broke their semifinal hoodoo by convincingly beating Afghanistan.

Aiden Markram said in the post-match presentation, “Gutted for the time being. It’ll take some time for us to have a really good reflection on a really good campaign the group had. Obviously for the time being, like I mentioned, it hurts quite a bit. Having said that, I’m incredibly proud of this group of players and everyone involved with the team.”

India posted 176 runs on the board after winning the toss and Markram felt his bowlers did a good job. The South African skipper said it was a chaseable score but they veered off the track in the last five overs.

Markram added, “I feel they bowled well (SA bowlers). Don’t think there was a whole lot to work with with regards to the pitch. Thought they did well to restrict them to what we thought was a chaseable total. Thought we batted really well as well, and it came down to the wire. Really good game of cricket. We’ve seen with a lot of our games in this campaign – it’s never over till the last ball is bowled.”

Markram admitted they could have gone all the way if they had grabbed their opportunity but he is incredibly proud of the way his players played throughout the tournament.

Markram concluded, “We never got comfortable, there’s always an element of scoreboard pressure. And especially at the back end, things happen quite quickly and can turn quite quickly as well. Having said that, we got into a great position which proves we’re worthy finalists. Could’ve won the game today. Unfortunately, we didn’t. Still, like I mentioned, incredibly proud of the group.”

South Africa will next tour the West Indies for one Test match and three T20Is.