South Africa’s gut-wrenching 7-run loss to India in the final of the T20 World Cup in Barbados on Saturday was hard to stomach for players and fand alike but Proteas captain, Aiden Markram, was determined to keep things in perspective after a game his team seemed certain to win.
With just 24 runs to win from the final 24 balls with five wickets in hand, South Africa slumped from 151-4 to 169-8 in 22 balls to concede the title.
🟡🟢 RESULT | #SAvIND 🇿🇦🇮🇳
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) June 29, 2024
Not meant to be for the Proteas in Barbados but a campaign to be proud of. #WozaNawe #BePartOfIt#OutOfThisWorld #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/IIR3JziGho
“I’m gutted for the time being, it will take some time for us to reflect on a really good campaign, it hurts at the moment but I’m incredibly proud of this group of players and everyone involved,” Markram said.
“We bowled well to restrict them to what we thought was a manageable total but it’s never over until the last ball is bowled and we saw that again today, we got into a great position to win, which showed we were worthy finalists,” Markram said.
“As we have seen with several of our previous games, it’s never over until the last ball. We never got comfortable and there is always that element of scoreboard pressure, and things can change quickly, but I’m still proud of what we have achieved.
“Hopefully we can draw from this experience in the future and continue to improve,” Markram said.
No DNA, just RSA 🇿🇦🔥
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) June 29, 2024
You did South Africa proud @ProteasMenCSA 🙌#T20WorldCup | #OutOfThisWorld pic.twitter.com/zUSihvGan8
Player-of-the-match, Virat Kohli, who scored 76 from 59 balls to anchor India’s total of 176-7, announced his retirement from international T20 cricket after the final:
“This was my last T20 game for India and this is exactly what we anted to achieve, and I’m just grateful that I was able to get the job done for the team,
“It was now or never, it was my last T20 game playing for India, my last World Cup, so I wanted to make the most of it. It was my desire to win the tournament, to make the most of the occasion and to respect the situation rather than try to force the situation and just to play the game my team wanted me to play,” Kohli said.