Bridgetown: A "gutted" South Africa captain Aiden Markram conceded that "scoreboard pressure" got to his team in the T20 World Cup final against India here.
India, riding on a Virat Kohli special of 76 and some brilliant death bowling by Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, out-maneuvered South Africa, which features some of the most explosive hitters in the shortest format, including Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, and Tristan Stubbs among others. The Proteas were in the hunt but in the end, fell just short in a chase of 176.
"Gutted for the time being, it will take some time to have a good reflection on this. Hurts quite a bit, but full credit to the bowlers and everyone else in this team," Markram said in the post-match presentation. "We bowled well, there wasn't a lot to work with and restrict them to a chaseable total. We batted well, came down to the wire in a great game of cricket but not quite there for us today," he added.
Markram acknowledged the pressure of the chase proved too much for his players. The South Africans thus continued to live with the chokers' tag, having failed to complete the job after Klaasen brought them within touching distance with his searing 27-ball 52.
"We've seen a lot of our games, it isn't over till the last ball is bowled. We never got comfortable and there was always scoreboard pressure. Having said that, this was a really good game which proves that we were worthy finalists," Markram said. "Hopefully this sets us up in a really good way, we pride ourselves on competing and hopefully we can put our skill to good use," he concluded.
The South African dugout was crestfallen even as the Indian players huddled in jubilation. Most of Proteas players looked shattered after the final over in which Hardik Pandya picked up two wickets, ensuring that the South Africans would head back home with unhealed scars.
