South Africa captain Aiden Markram said competing in the nation’s first T20 World Cup final is “nothing to be scared of” following his side’s nine-wicket semi-final victory over Afghanistan.
The Proteas’ bowling attack rampaged through Afghanistan’s batters on an unruly pitch in Tarouba to set their chase target at just 57, ultimately ending Afghanistan’s Cinderella tournament run in 53 balls.
The result put an end to South Africa’s run of seven straight semi-final exits in World Cup competitions.
Speaking to the BBC following the win, Markram said his side is looking to relish “an opportunity that we’ve never had”.
“This is as tough as it gets really,” he said.
“One more step, it’s an exciting challenge for us. We’ve never been there before but it’s nothing to be scared of. It’s an opportunity that we’ve never had and we’ll be really excited about it.
“We feel we’ve been playing really good cricket for a couple of years now, have some world-class players in the group and it takes a full squad to put together a really good cricket game.
“Obviously there are external pressures but we’re trying to keep it simple and that should give us a good chance.”
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan told the BBC it was a “tough, tough” exit from the tournament.
“We might have done a bit better than that. But the conditions didn’t let us,” he said.
“That’s what T20 is about, you’ve got to be ready for any situation. They bowled exceptionally well, we couldn’t bat well.
“We have enjoyed a lot. To reach the semi-final and play one of the best teams in South Africa, we’d have taken that. We responded well to a tough situation and beat big teams in this competition.
“It’s just the start for us, we can beat any team if we can keep it simple.”
South Africa will face either England or India in the final.