North Sound (Antigua), June 19: Before meeting co-hosts USA in their first Super Eight fixture of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 on Wednesday, South Africa skipper Aiden Markram revealed that their opponents have proved that they are not a small team anymore.
He further clarified that the Proteas won’t take them lightly during their Super Eight clash at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
In their first-ever Men’s T20 World Cup appearance, co-hosts USA have been the breakout stars, beating Canada and Pakistan, as well as running India close to be the second-best team in Group A and enter the Super Eight stage.
They are now up against a South Africa side who topped Group D through victories in all four matches, including surviving scares against the Netherlands and Nepal.
"They've been really good. I think not just them but a lot of the people will sort of say smaller nations, but they've proved that they're not a small team anymore. So, we're going to 100 per cent have to be on our best game and hopefully things go well, but I'm excited for that challenge.
"It’s a team that we haven't played much cricket against ,so looking forward to that and different conditions here in Antigua as well. So with all those things sort of together, we probably have to assess pretty quickly and develop plans out there on the field so that it can hopefully do the job for us," said Markram to reporters.
South Africa's batting struggled to get going on tough conditions in New York and found the going very hard on a spin-friendly pitch at St Vincent. Markram hoped that Proteas men can put up a better show with the bat during the Super Eights in West Indies.
"Still striving for that close to perfect game. I thought our bowlers so far throughout the comp have been really good for us and potentially bailed us out of jail once or twice. But it's understandably so. Conditions have been quite tough for us with the bat.
"It's a fresh start for us. Specifically, if you speak as a batting group, we get the chance to get to new conditions, hopefully slightly more batting friendly for us, and a good time for us to start peaking and finding some form moving forward in the competition," he concluded.
After splendid performances in familiar turfs in their backyards, if the USA can replicate their spirited fight in the Super Fight stages, then bigger teams would be forced to take them seriously. (With IANS support)
