Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 4 : South Africa skipper Aiden Markram credited New Zealand's explosive opening pair for taking the game away from his side in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup semi-final, admitting that a special innings from Finn Allen left the Proteas with little room to recover.
Speaking during the post-match presentation after South Africa's nine-wicket defeat at Eden Gardens, Markram acknowledged that while his bowlers started well, New Zealand's aggressive powerplay batting proved decisive.
"I think you look at the conditions, and they bowled really well up front. Credit to their bowling unit. And obviously, when someone plays an innings like that, you don't often come out on the right side of that. To get to 170 was a great effort to be fair. As it goes in T20 cricket, they got off to a flyer in the power play. Massive credit to Finn Allen's knock and Seifert's knock to kill the game off as early as they did," Markram said.
South Africa had posted a competitive 169/8 after recovering from early setbacks, with the captain believing his side had given themselves a fighting total. However, Allen's record-breaking century and Tim Seifert's aggressive half-century dismantled the target inside 13 overs.
Reflecting on the surface, Markram said the wicket appeared good for batting and hinted that his team may have needed an even bigger total to challenge New Zealand's in-form top order.
"I think we expected the wicket to play really well, looked really good to the eye. Maybe we had to try and scrape our way to 190 and we'd be in the game. Obviously disappointed in the result but really proud of these guys. Played so well in this tournament," he added.
Despite the heartbreak of falling short in the knockout stage, the South African captain struck a defiant tone about the team's future.
"I think we'll let the emotions settle first and foremost and then have a discussion as a group. You get back on the horse and come back. Hugely disappointed. We'll have to come out stronger and be better as a team," Markram said.
The loss ended South Africa's unbeaten run in the tournament, while New Zealand advanced to the final with a commanding performance.
Brief Scores: SA: 169/8 (Marco Jansen 55*, Tristan Stubbs 29, Rachin Ravindra 2/29) lost to NZ: 173/1 in 12.5 overs (Finn Allen 100*, Tim Seifert 58, Kagiso Rabada 1/28).