Proteas stumble at the finish line in groundbreaking T20 World Cup campaign

30 Jun 2024

The fact that victory was within touching distance for the Proteas will make their T20 World Cup final defeat even more painful to come to terms with.

The Proteas’ seven-run loss to India in the T20 World Cup final will sting for some time, particularly because they were so close to victory – in their first men’s World Cup final in any format.

“It’s just gut wrenching – that’s really what it is,” skipper Aiden Markram said after the match.

Heinrich Klaasen had just taken 22 runs out of 24 off the 15th over of South Africa’s batting innings bowled by spin bowler Axar Patel.

South Africa needed to go at a run-a-ball in the final five overs to clinch their first World Cup title.

It might not be called a choke but with 30 runs required from 30 balls, six wickets in hand and your two best finishers – David Miller and Klaasen – at the crease, you are expected to win from there.

Fortunately for India, they had an almighty trump card up their sleeve in the form of Jasprit Bumrah.

Bumrah bowled two of the last five overs and conceded six runs in total, including the wicket of Marco Jansen.

It was a magnificent display of high-quality fast bowling that included pinpoint yorkers, seam movement and subtle changes of pace.

“It’s not the first game of cricket that’s been lost with a team needing 30 of 30,” Markram said.

“It’s more that India are allowed to bowl well, they’re allowed to field well, they’re allowed to go from that position to a position of strength.”

A tight campaign

South Africa were on the other side of these close results throughout their T20 World Cup campaign.

In their eight-match winning streak to reach the final, six matches went to at least the final seven balls to decide victory.

It’s been a terrific campaign for South Africa who, in bygone editions of World Cups, have lost a number of matches in similarly tight positions.

Their growth from previous white-ball campaigns is perhaps best exemplified by their tight-fought four-wicket win over the Netherlands in the group stage.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Heartbreak for Proteas as India claim victory in gripping T20 World Cup final

At the last two World Cups, the 50-over edition in India in 2023 and the 20-over one in Australia the year before, they lost to the lowly ranked Dutch side. Not this time, however.

Markram certainly thinks the groundbreaking achievements in this can propel the Proteas to new heights at white-ball tournaments to come.

“I really hope so,” he said. “[This is] a great group of guys that’s been together for quite a long time now.

“Get to our first final… It’s something we can be proud of. Still, in our eyes, not good enough.

“You’re not satisfied with making a final, but still, I think it’ll take a bit of time for us to reflect back on all the good things that we’ve done, but obviously for the time being, it just hurts a lot.”

Small margins

After being in a position of ascendancy in the final five overs, the Proteas capitulated while India surged.

Suryakumar Yadav took an outstanding catch to dismiss Miller in the final over when 16 was required.

Hardik Pandya – after conceding 10 runs in his first over – came back in the death and bowled two overs, picking up three wickets and only conceding 10 runs.

It was a masterful display of how to play pressure cricket while South Africa’s lower order struggled to get the ball off the square.

For Markram, however, there was no one moment where the game was lost.

“It’s not a specific moment,” he said. “It’s an overall game of 40 overs and if you look at a couple of moments potentially where you could have done better.

“But all in all, still proud of the performance we put together in a final, and to get close like that is something I’m just proud of.”

The South African side though will hurt and the fact that they were in touching distance of a nation’s 32-year dream will only add to that pain.

“Ultimately you become really tight as a group and you want good things to happen to this group because you know they’re great people and when you get really close like that,” Markram said.

“Especially the nature of how the game went obviously adds to the emotions and it’s one of those things, but yeah, we can channel it moving forward. But I think the next couple of days you let it be, you let yourself feel the way you want to feel and then really start reflecting in a positive manner.” DM

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South Africa

A tight campaign

Small margins