It’s a wrap-up of the group stage for South Africa. The South African side conquered the tournament with their excellence. They are moving forward to the group stage with an unbeaten steak. In the 31st match of the tournament, they faced Nepal and registered a narrow win of 1 run. The bowlers and their domination shined. With that exceptional win, South African skipper Aiden Markram opened up about the win and their performance in the group stage.
The Thrilling Win and Markram’s Words:
South Africa kickstarted the tournament with exceptional domination and carried it till their final group-stage match. As they faced Nepal in their last group-stage match, they showcased amazing character. After struggling while batting in the first innings, they bounced back in the second innings. The bowlers were amazing. Tabraiz Shamsi secured 4 wickets by just conceding 19 runs. Aiden Markram and Anrich Nortje secured 1 wicket each. They defeated Nepal just by 1 run.
After the win, South African skipper Aiden Markram said, “Very grateful to have got the win. Don’t think we were anywhere near our best tonight. For large parts, don’t think we thought we’d be on the right side of that as well. Lot of learnings for us.”
Later he added, “We’ve got a really good pace attack and you have to back that. We spoke about coming in with energy and see if there was anything in the wicket. In hindsight we should’ve played another spinner, didn’t think it would spin that much.”
Praising the Opponent Bowlers:
In the first innings, South Africa was on backfoot. Their batters struggled in front of Nepal’s bowling lineup. Reeza Hendricks scored 43 runs in 49 balls. After that, the batters kept losing wickets consecutively. The Nepal bowlers used the condition beautifully and thrived in that situation.
While praising them, Markram said, “They (Nepal) bowled really well and made it tough for us. They put us under a lot of pressure and it shows the quality they have. Mix that with a lack of conviction in our dressing room so there’s a lot of learnings for us. It’s about backing the players we’ve developed and going forward with that.”
Reflecting on the Conditions:
The USA and West Indies are hosting this edition of the tournament together. The condition of both places are totally different from each other. Along with delivering an exciting performance, adapting to the conditions played a crucial role as it plays a major role in the game.
On this matter, the South African skipper said, “Conditions very different here, being able to adapt is important and the structure might change going forward. It’s one of the great challenges of cricket, being able to assess conditions and adapt.”
On Keshav Maharaj’s Absence:
After performing well in the last match, Keshav Maharaj was absent from South Africa’s playing xi against Nepal. The buzz was looming over his absence. After the match, he cleared the thing as they wanted to give a chance to Tabraiz Shamsi.
On this matter, he said, “No injury to Keshav (Maharaj), Shamsi hadn’t played in a while, thought this was a great opportunity to get him some game time. In hindsight we should’ve played both spinners.”
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