[Watch] Dale Steyn hugs South African players after comprehensive win over Afghanistan in T20 World Cup semifinal

Former South Africa speedster Dale Steyn got a great birthday gift from the Proteas as they beat Afghanistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup semifinal in Trinidad on Thursday, June 27. Aiden Markram and Co. blew away Afghanistan, bundling them out for just 56 runs, before completing the chase in the ninth over with nine wickets in hand.

In a video posted by Star Sports, Steyn was seen expressing his emotions after the win as he hugged the likes of Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj and seemed to tell them words of praise.

Here's the video:

Dale Steyn had also taken to his X (formerly Twitter) account to express his happiness on the Proteas reaching the final of the T20 World Cup. The men's team have repeated the feat that the women's team achieved by reaching the final of the Women's T20 World Cup last year. They would like to go one step better and end their trophy drought.

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Aiden Markram credits South African players in massive win

Skipper Aiden Markram credited his players for the final berth and praised them for coming up trumps in crunch situations throughout the tournament. He also doesn't want to put too much pressure on his players and wants to treat the final like just another game.

On this, here's what Markram said in the post-match presentation ceremony:

"It's not really the captain that gets you this far. It's the backroom staff and the players on the fringes too. Special bowling performance. One more step. Nothing to fear, it's an exciting opportunity. There's a lot of belief in this squad. We are tying to see it very simply."

Markram was delighted that he could give the fans back in South Africa a comprehensive win to cheer as he understood they would have been on the edge for most of their close encounters.

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