By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa captain Aiden Markram said he was “gutted” after his team lost their first-ever T20 World Cup final by seven runs to India in Barbados on Saturday.
With just 24 runs to win from the final 24 balls with five wickets in hand, South Africa slumped from 151-4 to 169-8 in 22 balls to concede the title.
“I’m gutted for the time being, it will take some time for us to reflect on a really good campaign, it hurts at the moment but I’m incredibly proud of this group of players and everyone involved,” Markram said.
“We bowled well, it was not a lot to work with, it was a chaseable total. We batted well as it came down to the wire, but we’re gutted not to get over the line,” He said.
“It’s not over ’til the last ball is over, we never got comfortable, things happen quickly at the back end, but we got into a great position to prove we were worthy finalists.
“South Africans are competitive, respectful and will go down with a fight. It’s still a proud moment for us.”
Though South Africa were on track for the win against favourites India in the final, on the whole it was still an outstanding campaign by the Proteas as it was their first loss of the World Cup.
South Africa’s only major honour in the game is the Champions Trophy title won in 1998.