South Africa captain Aiden Markram after semi-final defeat: ‘It’s a big slap in the face’

SA vs NZ: After missing the chance to reach the T20 World Cup final, South Africa captain Aiden Markram said, "I am very disappointed. This is a big slap in the face. But, because of this, we have to move forward stronger in the end and become better as a team."

SA vs NZ: South Africa's journey in the T20 World Cup 2026 came to an end with a crushing 9-wicket defeat against New Zealand in the first semi-final at Kolkata's Eden Gardens on Wednesday. South African captain Aiden Markram appeared quite disappointed after this heavy loss. After missing the chance to reach the final, Markram said, "We need to get back into rhythm and try to improve as a group and as individuals, and hopefully, that will put you in a good position for the future. Yes, I am very disappointed again. This is a big slap in the face."

'The ball wasn't coming onto the bat properly'

After the match, Markram said, "I think if you look at the initial conditions, they bowled very well. The ball wasn't coming onto the bat properly. Some balls were stopping on the pitch, and some were hitting very low. This made scoring runs quite difficult, and that built pressure, and unfortunately, we kept losing wickets under that pressure. So, full credit goes to New Zealand's bowling unit."

Praised Finn Allen and Tim Seifert

"To be honest, reaching 170 was a fantastic effort. At one point, we genuinely felt we had a chance, but then, as it happens in T20 cricket, they got off to a good start in the powerplay, and unfortunately, we couldn't save every boundary. It was very difficult to come back from there. So, we give a lot of credit to Finn Allen's innings and Tim Seifert's innings, who finished the game early. Unfortunately, it was a bad night for us."

'If we had tried to reach 190, perhaps...'

When asked what could have been done differently, Markram said, "It's difficult to say anything right now. We will reflect as a group. I think we expected the wicket to be very good. It looked quite good. The batsmen would adjust a bit quicker and perhaps play a bit more conventionally and try to reach 190, then maybe we would have stayed in the game. I am disappointed with the result, but I am very proud of the people in this group who have played very good cricket throughout this competition, and it was truly a bad evening."

'This is a big slap in the face...'

When asked about performing so well in the group stage and then faltering again, he said, "I think, first of all, you need to let the emotions settle down. Once they settle, we will discuss as a group, analyse the match, and try to find areas where we could have done better. We need to get back into rhythm and try to improve as a group and as individuals, and hopefully, that will put you in a good position for the future. I am very disappointed. This is a big slap in the face. However, because of this, we have to move forward stronger in the end and become better as a team."