Kolkata, March 5: 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 semifinal at Eden Gardens on Wednesday. Following this loss, South African captain Aiden Markram outlined the reasons for their defeat.
Batting first, South Africa managed to score 169 runs, losing 8 wickets. Dewald Brevis contributed 34 runs, while Tristan Stubbs added 29. Marco Jansen played a noteworthy innings, remaining unbeaten with 55 runs. 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. Therefore, full credit goes to their (New Zealand) bowling unit.”
He added, “When a player performs like that, as a fielding team, you often find it hard to 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 Seifert and Allen, saying, “They got off to a fiery start in the powerplay. You can’t save every boundary, and that’s where the match slipped away from us. It became very difficult to make a comeback after that. 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’ll need to reflect as a group. We thought the wicket would be good, and it looked like that too. Perhaps we should have adapted to the conditions a bit quicker and taken a more ‘old school’ approach. We could have set the innings and aimed for around 190, which might have kept us 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 it was just an unfortunate evening. First, we need to let the emotions settle. Then we’ll sit down to analyze the match and see where we could improve. We’ll regroup, work on our individual and team performances, and hopefully, 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 must come back even stronger.”
