"Fortunate to have lost the toss," says Aiden Markram after beating Afghanistan in ICC T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final

The Aiden Markram-led South Africa thumped Afghanistan by nine wickets in the semi-final.

South Africa captain Aiden Markram said he was lucky to have lost the toss in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final against Afghanistan in Trinidad.

The pitch at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad proved to be a nightmare for the batters because of its exaggerated uneven bounce and seam movement. Using this, the Protea bowlers bundled the Afghanistan batting line-up for only 56 runs, the lowest-ever T20I total for Afghanistan.

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan had won the toss and elected to bat first in the hope of putting the pressure of a run-chase in a knockout game on South Africa. However, Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada took five wickets in the first five overs before Anrich Nortje and Shamsi cleaned up the rest of the batting order.

Even South Africa suffered an early hiccup as Quinton de Kock was dismissed in the first over but skipper Markram and opener Reeza Hendricks saw the chase through inside only nine overs.

Got a bit of luck with regard to the toss: Aiden Markram

Aiden Markram said had he won the toss, he would have batted first as well.

At the post-match presentation ceremony, the South African skipper said, “[We were] fortunate to have lost the toss, I guess. We also would have batted, so we got a bit of luck with regard to that. But the bowlers still had to get it in the right areas. They got enough balls in the right areas and made life really tough for the Afghanistan batters. So, credit to them.“

Markram was a little critical of the pitch in Trinidad and was happy that the final will be played in Barbados.

“The wickets that we’ve had throughout the competition have been pretty challenging. Tonight’s wicket was pretty challenging once again. It’s hard to say that a wicket is not good because it can’t just always be a batter’s game, but I think if we reflect back on this wicket, we’ll probably be pretty happy that we’re not playing here again,” he added.

In the final on Saturday, South Africa will face either India or England.

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