South Africa was the favorite to win the first semi-final match of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 over New Zealand. In reality, the New Zealand cricket team not only registered a win, but they also crushed the Proteas to storm into the Final.
After the match, Aiden Markram, for the first time in the tournament, joined the post-match presentation ceremony as a losing side captain. Behind the heartbreaking defeat, he did not blame any of his players, but talked mostly about the pitch.
The losing side’s skipper blamed the pitch
Aiden Markram claimed that the pitch at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, was not ideal for batting swiftly in the first innings of the match. The bounce was uneven, and the ball came slowly on some occasions as well, as experienced by the South Africa captain.
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South Africa went to bat first, after losing the toss, and scored 169 for 8 in 20 overs. Markram credited the New Zealand bowlers for their tremendous efforts throughout the innings. The skipper believes that with the bat, they did a decent job, and the target of 170 on the pitch like this was not bad enough.
So give credit to their bowling unit- Aiden Markram
“I think you look at conditions early and they bowled really well up front. Ball didn’t quite feel like coming on, some were just stopping on the wicket and some were hitting quite low on the bat and they made scoring really tough, and through that pressure builds and you lose wickets unfortunately”, the South Africa captain Aiden Markram described their moments with the bat.
“So give credit to their bowling unit and obviously with the bat, someone plays an innings like that, don’t think you will come out on the right side of the result many times as a fielding team. To get to 170 was a great effort to be fair”, he added.
Aiden Markram heaps praises for the New Zealand opener Finn Allen
New Zealand defeated the Proteas by 9 runs, a huge margin to register a win in the semifinals of a World Cup. Finn Allen was the brightest star of the night. The Kiwi opener remained unbeaten for 100 off 33, smashing ten 4s and eight 6s. The other opener, Tim Seifert, scored 58 off 33. Kagiso Rabada was the bowler who picked up the one wicket the Kiwis lost.
“And, I think, that opening partnership you get through a power play, no doubt, it puts you in a pretty good position. And then obviously, Finny (Allen) just carried on and, I mean, 33 balls for 100, it’s not bad. Not bad at all”, Aiden Markram acknowledged.
In the semifinals, New Zealand outplayed South Africa in all departments of the match. They came into the ground with good homework and executed it as well. In the summit clash, the Kiwis will be up against either Team India or England.
