Winning a tight game is a big positive, says Proteas captain Markram

An exhilarating double super over T20 World Cup pool win over Afghanistan in Ahmedabad on Wednesday may just be what the doctor ordered for the Proteas, according to captain Aiden Markram.

In an incredible contest the Proteas and Afghanistan both had opportunities to win the match in regular play, before they both lost the plot, with the South Africans arguably butchering it more at the death.

That meant that the Proteas‘ 187/6 in 20 overs was levelled up by Afghanistan at 187 all out, with a last gasp run out seeing them miss out on the win.

Heading into a super over, both sides couldn’t be separated the first time round, finishing with 17 runs each, while the second super over saw the Proteas edge the contest thanks to scoring 23 to Afghanistan’s 19.

Winning the hard way

Despite the fact that they almost conspired to lose the match from winning positions, Markram said that earning the win the hard way will serve them well as they go deeper into the World Cup, especially the players who delivered in the super overs.

“That is the big positive that you take from a game like this. You need to win your close games in a competition like this, so that’s a big positive,” explained Markram.

“The boys who batted in the super overs will take heaps of belief and confidence from being under a lot of pressure and delivering their skills.”

However the Proteas have plenty to improve on, after they weren’t able to maximise after finding themselves in a great position batting first on 126/1 in the 13^th over, thanks to Ryan Rickelton (61) and Quinton de Kock (59).

But their bowling and fielding performance largely made up for it, and they would have won the match in regular time after Afghanistan lost their last wicket at the start of the last over, only for the batsman to be called back after Kagiso Rabada was pinged for overstepping.

Look to improve

Markram admitted that it wasn’t a comfortable target that they had set, but he was happy with the performance of Rickelton and De Kock, as well as the bowlers and fielders, and that they would now look to improve on those small areas of the game that they have been lacking.

“It is important to get a really good start in this format and that’s exactly what they (Rickelton and De Kock) did for us. The two of them have been batting really nicely, taking the game on within their strengths, which is very nice to see and setting it up beautifully,” said Markram.

“But there are small little phases throughout the middle (stage of the innings). I think we have gone bang-bang (lost wickets in that phase) in the first two games, so hopefully we can tidy that up and it can add up to a few more runs at the end.

“I said to the boys that it was a decent target, but that we would have to scrap, and bowl and field well (to defend it). So I wasn’t 100% comfortable with it, I thought we left a few (runs) out there.

“But you look at our bowling attack and fielding unit and if we could save 10 to 15 runs through good fielding and bowling, I thought we could make a game of it. But there are areas that we can improve. Small little phases that add up to a lot in this format.”