Aiden Markram's shocking revelation after T20 World Cup semi-final, says Rashid Khan helped South Africa win at the toss

South African captain Aiden Markram expressed confidence in his side after the Proteas reached their maiden ICC T20 World Cup finale earlier today. 

Aiden Markram's Proteas side confirmed their spot in the T20 WC final with a win against Rashid Khan's Afghanistan in the 1st semi-final. The match, which took place at the Brian Lara stadium, saw South Africa win after bowling first in the seam-friendly conditions on offer in Trinidad. It was expected to be a closely fought contest but it eventually ended as a highly one-sided affair. 

Rashid Khan's decision to bat first after winning the toss backfired on Afghanistan as they were bowled out for the lowest-ever semi-final score in T20 WCs.

The Afghans, who had a fairytale run during the Group stages as well as in the Super 8s, were bowled out for just 56 runs. South Africa's fiery bowling line-up broke the back of the Afghani batting line-up with Marco Jansen leading the charge. Jansen scalped man of the match winning figures of 3/16 from his 3 overs with Tabraiz Shamsi also scalping 3 wickets. 

Fast bowlers Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada were also among the wickets, picking up a brace each. In response to Afghanistan's total of 56, South Africa completed the chase within 8.5 overs with Reeza Hendricks scoring 25 off 29 and skipper Aiden Markram scoring 23 off 21, including the winning runs.  

What did Aiden Markram say after the win?  

Aiden Markram has now become the first South African captain to lead the National side towards the finale of an ICC event. In their previous 2 appearances at T20 WC semi-finals, the Proteas had only lost but the story was different this time around. After grabbing the win, Markram sat down and spoke about the team's mindset heading into the final for the first time in their history. 

Aiden Markram credited the entire team for South Africa's journey to the final and admitted that his side was clinical in the SF.  

"It feels good. It is not only the captain that gets you here, it is a massive squad effort. There are plenty of guys behind the scenes as well. Fortunate to have lost the toss, we would have batted too. We were brilliant with the ball, got it in the right areas and kept it really simple." - Markram told reporters. 

Markram says his side are not scared of the pressure in finale 

Despite playing a very good brand of cricket during ICC tournaments, South Africa was infamous for not handling the pressure well in knock-out matches. But in the 2024 T20 WC, the Proteas have done well to handle the pressure in the semi-final but the task is not done yet. 

Aiden Markram and co. have to make sure they remain undefeated in the tournament to win the entire competition this Sunday. Ahead of South Africa's maiden WC final appearance, Markram admitted that his side is not under any pressure and will rather embrace the occasion. 

"It is one more step for us, it is an opportunity we have never had, nothing to be scared of. This win means a lot, we have some world-class players in the side but like I said, it takes a whole squad to be able to deliver such a performance." - Aiden Markram concluded.