IND vs SA: Aiden Markram says not playing final before an advantage for South Africa
The T20 World Cup 2024 final is all set to get underway as India and South Africa are all set to take on each other in the summit clash on Saturday, June 29 at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.
India captain Rohit Sharma called it correctly at the toss and elected to bat first in the all-important clash. Notably, out of the eight matches played in the tournament so far at the venue, three each have been won by teams batting and bowling first while one game has been a washout with the other being a tie. It will be the first-ever appearance for South Africa in the final of a World Cup as they’ve appeared in the knockout stages of nine World Cups before out of which seven were semi-finals.
Hence, South Africa have finally got the monkey off their back by beating Afghanistan by nine wickets in the second semi-final. After losing the toss, South Africa captain Aiden Markram hoped to use some moisture in the surface early on with the new ball.
The 29-year-old said that they were also looking to bat first and reflected on their World Cup campaign full of close victories. The Proteas captain also mentioned that playing a perfect game in the final may not be possible but they will be willing to get as close as they can to that.
There’s absolutely no pressure on us: Markram
“Would’ve batted first as well, looks dry. But we get the first crack with the ball so hopefully we can do well. At times we haven’t been at our best but we’ve still managed to win and we take confidence from that. Perfect isn’t possible but we want to be as close as possible to that. There’s absolutely no pressure on us, we’ve never been in a final and we just want to enjoy it and be at our best. Same team for us,” said Aiden Markram at the toss.
Notably, South Africa have had several close victories in the tournament against the Netherlands, Bangladesh, Nepal and the West Indies. Hence, they will be eager to hold their nerve for one final time in the mega final as well.