Kolkata, March 4: South Africa’s journey in the T20 World Cup 2026 came to a disappointing end after a crushing 9-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the first semi-final at Eden Gardens on Wednesday. Following this defeat, South African captain Aiden Markram outlined the reasons for their loss.
Batting first, South Africa managed to score 169 runs, losing 8 wickets. Dewald Brevis contributed 34 runs, while Tristan Stubbs added 29. Marco Jansen remained unbeaten with a score of 55. In response, New Zealand chased down the target in just 12.5 overs, thanks to a 117-run partnership between Tim Seifert (58) and Finn Allen (not out 100).
After missing the chance to reach the finals, Markram stated, “I think it was crucial to assess the conditions early on, and they bowled exceptionally well with the new ball. The ball wasn’t coming onto the bat properly. Some deliveries were stopping on the pitch while others were skidding low. This made scoring runs quite challenging, and under that pressure, we kept losing wickets. So, full credit goes to their (New Zealand) bowling unit.”
He further commented on their batting performance, saying, “When a player performs like that, as a fielding team, you rarely come out on the right side of the result. Honestly, reaching 170 was a commendable effort for us. During the match, we felt we still had a chance.”
Markram praised Tim Seifert and Finn Allen for their explosive start in the powerplay. “You can’t save every boundary, and that’s where we lost control of the match. After that, it became very difficult to make a comeback. Therefore, we must give significant credit to Finn Allen and Tim Seifert for finishing the match so quickly. Unfortunately, it was just a bad night for us.”
When asked about potential improvements for the team, Markram replied, “It’s hard to say right now. We will deliberate as a group. We thought the wicket would be good, and it looked that way. Perhaps we should have adapted to the conditions more quickly and taken a more ‘old-school’ approach. We could have set the innings and aimed for around 190; maybe then we would have stayed in the match.”
Despite the setback, Markram expressed pride in his team. “We are certainly disappointed with the result, but I am very proud of this team. We played some excellent cricket throughout the tournament, and this was just an unfortunate evening. First, it’s essential to let the emotions settle. Then we will analyze the match, see where we could improve, and regroup. We hope this will make us stronger for the future. This loss is quite disheartening. We felt a bit of a shock, but that’s why we need to come back stronger.”
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