"We'll probably be pretty happy that we're not playing here again" - Aiden Markram on the surface used for SA vs AFG T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final
South African captain Aiden Markram is relieved his side won't be playing another game at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad, given the treacherous conditions in the T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final against Afghanistan. The right-handed batter reckons the Proteas have played on challenging surfaces throughout the competition.
The surface in Trinidad played plenty of tricks throughout the match as Afghanistan were skittled out for 56 after winning the toss and opting to bat first.
The likes of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Marco Jansen needed only 11.5 overs to take all 10 wickets. During the Proteas' reply, the pitch also played plenty of tricks but they chased the target down comfortably.
Speaking at a post-match presser, Markram suggested that the wicket should have been a balanced one and said, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:
"Yeah, I mean T20 cricket as a whole, you want entertainment. The wickets that we've had throughout the competition have been pretty challenging. Tonight's wicket was pretty challenging once again.
"It's hard to say that a wicket is not good because it can't just always be a batter's game, but I think if we reflect back on this wicket, we'll probably be pretty happy that we're not playing here again."
Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott didn't mince his words and declared that the surface for the semi-final needed to be better. With not many runs on the board, Afghanistan couldn't make a difference despite having an incisive bowling unit.
"We believe that we can compete with the best in the world" - Aiden Markram
With the South African men's team reaching their first World Cup final, Markram feels that they can get the job done as the present team is different than their predecessors. The 29-year-old added:
"This team's been together for a long time now as a white-ball group, both formats, and it's nice for us to get to a final. We feel and we believe that we can compete with the best in the world and we can win trophies. And it's nice for us to now have that opportunity and make it into a final.
"You get a little bit of confidence and a little bit of belief knowing you have done it on a certain level before. I don't think it's the exact same here at men's cricket but there are similar pressures that you have to deal with being in a final and we would have experienced that in 2014."
The Proteas will either face India or England in the final on Saturday (June 29).