Karachi [Pakistan], March 1 (ANI): Following his side’s convincing seven-wicket win over England in the ICC Champions Trophy, South African captain Aiden Markram served an update over his hamstring niggle, which caused him to miss his batting during the run-chase.
Proteas marched into the semifinals of the ICC Champions Trophy with a brilliant win over Three Lions, however, it had its moments of horror as Markram experienced problems with his hamstring while fielding. He was captaining the side in absence of Temba Bavuma, who missed out the match due to illness. In Markram’s absence, Heinrich Klaasen took the leadership duties.
Speaking about his hamstring niggle after the match in the post-match presentation, Markram said, “I think it is alright, hopefully in the next few days, I can get good rest and recover.”
On all-rounder Marco Jansen’s heroic powerplay spell, Markram said that his contributions have been “huge” for the team and he pairs up well with speedster Kagiso Rabada.
Speaking on Klaasen, who scored his fifth-successive half-century, Markram said, “He has been in a ridiculous sort of form for the last many months. He had a little niggle but he never really left, he has been great for us.”
Markram said that if his team gets to play the semifinal against India in Dubai, the team has plenty of players to choose from based on the conditions.
“The coach generally gets the best out of the players,” he concluded.
Coming to the match, England won the toss and opted to bat first. They were reduced to 37/3 during the powerplay by Marco Jansen (3/39). While Joe Root (37 in 44 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and Harry Brook (19 in 29 balls, with three fours) stitched a 62-run stand for the fourth wicket, Wiaan Mulder (3/25) and Keshav Maharaj (2/35) kept taking wickets to bundle out England for 179 runs in 38.2 overs.
During the run-chase, SA was 47/2 at one point, but half-centuries from Rassie Van Der Dussen (72 in 87 balls, with six fours and three sixes) and Heinrich Klaasen (64 in 56 balls, with 11 fours) took Proteas to a seven-wicket win.
Jansen won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his spell. (ANI)
