India vs South Africa: Captain Aiden Markram ‘gutted’ after Proteas fall agonisingly short of T20 crown

South Africa captain Aiden Markram said he was “gutted” after his sides heart-breaking defeat in the T20 World Cup final with Sky Sports Cricket pundit Eoin Morgan saying the Proteas “spectacularly fell apart”.

South Africa were favourites after Heinrich Klaasen (52) smashed 22 runs off the 15th over to slash their required total from 54 runs to 30 after muscling Axar Patel (1-49) for back-to-back sixes over long-on and hitting two boundaries either side of that over too.

However, superb death bowling from Hardik Pandya (3-20) and Jasprit Bumrah (2-18) removed the threat of Klaasen and Marco Jansen (2) respectively, with Suryakumar Yadav taking what commentator Ian Smith described on as “the greatest catch in cricket,” leading India to complete an epic win.

When Klaasen was dismissed in the 17th over, the camera panned to his skipper Markram crying in dugout. He knew with that wicket also fell much of South Africa’s hopes.

“Obviously gutted for the time being, it will take us some time to have a reflection on the good campaign that we’ve had,” said Markram in the post-match interview.

“For the time being, like I’ve mentioned, it hurts quite a bit but having said that, I’m still incredibly proud of this group of players and everyone that’s involved in this team.

“We bowled well. I don’t think there was a lot to work with in the pitch so I thought they did well to restrict India to what we thought was a total we could chase.

“Thought we batted well and it came down to the wire. It was a really good game of cricket on all fronts. I’m really chuffed with the guys and incredibly proud of them.

“It did seem possible, we’ve seen with a lot of our games that it’s not over until it’s over. We never got comfortable and there was always that element of scoreboard pressure.”

South Africa reached the final with an unbeaten record throughout their campaign, winning over associate teams Nepal and USA, as well as Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Bangladesh, England, West Indies and Afghanistan.

Previously, South Africa had lost seven World Cup semi-finals across 20-over and 50-over cricket and overcame what seemed like an impossible hurdle in reaching the final.

“We got into a good position which proves that we’re worthy finalists,” Markram added.

“It’s gut-wrenching… the way this game went only adds to the emotions.

“I think one thing that is guaranteed about South Africans, wherever they are in the world, is that they are really competitive, respectful, and they go down with a fight. That’s something we pride ourselves on.

“Hopefully moving forward we can draw a lot from these things but it’s still a proud moment for us.”

South Africa certainly did not go down without a fight.

Their bowlers exposed a nervy India side, reducing them to 34-3 within the powerplay after skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat.

Virat Kohli smashed a vital 76 in his final ever T20 World Cup to help India post 176-7, an above par score, and despite this South Africa still managed to get within touching distance of victory helped by Quinton de Kock (39), David Miller (21) and Klaasen.

“South Africa quite spectacularly fell apart,” said Sky Sports Cricket pundit Morgan.

“It wasn’t nice. You see the quality of the players they have in their line up with the likes of Quinton de Kock at the top of the order and Tristan Stubbs, it felt like the momentum was with South Africa today.

“They basically took the game to the brink of winning it and got so close, you’ve got to stick to the process for as long as possible and the process will take you to where you want to be. It’s incredibly disappointing for them.”

With India’s T20 greats Kohli and Rohit bowing out after this campaign, as well as head coach Rahul Dravid, it felt like the stars had aligned for them to leave crowned as champions.

A 20-year-old Rohit Sharma was part of the India side that won the inaugural campaign in 2007.

Seventeen years later, he was able to lift the trophy once again.

This time as a captain, with his children celebrating alongside him, on his final day in international T20 cricket.

For South Africa, their silverware search continues. One that they hope is not too far away. As Ian Bishop said: “There is no doubt, Aiden, that your time will come in the future.”

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