Here’s the full transcript of Aiden Markram’s press conference after the South Africa vs West Indies Super 8 clash
[Reporter:]
We ask you about the bowling plans a lot but obviously today was different. I think you described the wicket as tacky up front and then we saw quite a bit of pace on actually at the beginning and then pace off at the end. Can you just talk us through those, how that worked?
[Aiden Markram:]
Yeah, actually, I mean up front it was tacky and felt like the new ball was the seam, because it was hard with holding the wicket and either nip or have a bit of extra bounce. And with our boys, you need to try to use that as much as you can when it’s on offer. It got a bit tricky at some stage with the balance of do you continue with that or I mean I think to a lot of us it looked like that we could kept getting better and better and then going to as if it’s a really flat one and how would we approach it from there, so that’s pretty much why the plans changed today. Credit to the bowlers to be able to get it right the way that they did. More often than not you just end up doing one thing throughout and for them to adapt and change and still pretty much execute was a big feather in their cap.
[Reporter:]
You’re talking about Lungi – but I’m just wondering about a word on Corbin Bosch. He bowled an excellent last over and he’s got a great economy rate, do what is he doing that’s so impressive?
[Aiden Markram:]
I think he just keeps it really really simple, he trains smartly, he trains hard, he doesn’t give himself too many options, he just tries to get really good at the things that he backs. Obviously, bowls a really good yorker, which everyone has seen. It’s nice to be able to have that sort of variety, I guess, in our attack. We’ve got some tall guys that hit the wicket really hard. You have Lungi that’s got a really deceptive slower ball and then Marco and KG are Marco and KG. So it’s been a great addition since he’s joined in the, I don’t know how long it’s been now, maybe 18 months and yeah, he keeps training well and keeps getting better and better.
[Reporter:]
There during that partnership you’ve mentioned now that we could keep getting better while Holder and Shepherd were batting and building a nice partnership. What sort of was the thinking from you guys because I know Shai Hope also now said that they were maybe 40 or 50 runs short. Was that always in the back of your mind as well, or what was the thinking? Were you frustrated?
[Aiden Markram:]
I mean, you can get frustrated when you have a team, I don’t know what it was, 7 down or something, but you have to try to paint the bigger picture and see the reasons behind it is it poor bowling is it good batting or has the wicket become really good and I thought they played really well obviously two massive humans and their mis-hits go for six and makes it tougher for you and keeps you challenged and locked in as a bowling group. But I thought 180, you still need a bat well, but the way that we kept getting better and better, it didn’t feel like it was too much of a stretch.
[Reporter:]
For you guys now, you’ve beaten three of the best teams in the comp in New Zealand, India, and the West Indies quite comprehensively. Is there sort of almost a danger that was it too easy going into the semis – I don’t know if you understand what I mean like the mindset after such comprehensive performances against such good teams.
[Aiden Markram:]
Yeah, it doesn’t feel easy to be honest. The boys are, every game, every meeting we have, they’ve fully locked in and we’ve been on good and bad sides at World Cups and it’s definitely not something this group would take for granted. I don’t think it’s even worth mentioning to the group. The guys have a lot of pride and are really on a mission to try and achieve something. You sort of don’t want to create things where there aren’t really anything- so if we need to go out against it based on what our eyes tell us we will mention it but for the time being the guys have been tracking really well.
[Reporter:]
Aiden like you guys West Indies came here today an unbeaten side and now suddenly it looks very hard for them to reach the semis. Does that give you an appreciation for how cutthroat it is? One loss and you might be gone.
[Aiden Markram:]
Massively. The guys put in a really good performance a couple nights ago and you wake up the next morning and you go, Jesus, it could all be over in a couple of days’ time. So it is seriously cutthroat. It’s a high level of cricket, obviously, but the intensity and the amount of energy that drains you each game is quite high. So you need to stay on your toes as we mentioned earlier you can’t take many things for granted and keep locking into to ultimately why you’re here so can be really cutthroat really good teams, can be tough at times, but I think we’ve all been through that in specifically at T20 World Cup.
[Reporter:]
To go into a game now against Zimbabwe, who I think most people would say you should beat, how do you go into that?
[Aiden Markram:]
Yeah, I mean it can sometimes be more nerve-wracking to be honest, but you give them the absolute respect that they deserve, they’re there for a reason and have beaten some quality teams in the group stages and coming into this. So again, if you want to win a competition, you want to keep the good things going for as long as possible and you don’t want to take your foot off the gas and I’m sure that’s where a lot of the conversations will be around going into that game
[Reporter:]
You spoke about Lungi’s slow deliveries – Every unique and unplayable delivery eventually gets deciphered. Sam came up with the moon ball which for a point seemed unplayable and now batters have started to pick it up. What is it about Lungi’s deeper yorkers that makes him so deceptive? When you are facing him at the nets, what is it that sets him apart from the other bowlers?
[Aiden Markram:]
I think he just nails it to be honest. The deception of pace is obviously massive. He bowls a really good yorker in between all of that to keep you on your toes and he lands it exactly where it’s meant to land. So ultimately that’s what it always comes down to on really good wickets. If you just miss, it can still travel, but ultimately it’s one of his best skills, that and his yorker at the back end. And if he keeps mixing it, that’s something that I’m sure he’ll keep really close to him and keep backing because you have to back something and ultimately you want to back what’s working and something that you’re comfortable doing.
[Reporter:]
What are your reasons behind your unbeaten run in this competition? Every player has contributed when the need was there. In the last few matches we’ve seen Jansen and Keshav were the better bowlers. This time around the first two overs were expensive. KG did not pick any wicket in the last three games. Today he kind of changed the game with the third over. As a captain, how relieving it is at this stage of the competition that all of your bowlers are contributing at some stage of the competition?
[Aiden Markram:]
Yeah, it’s massive because you don’t ever want to get into a T20 comp where you feel like you’re relying on a handful of guys. If one guy has a tough day, you trust that someone picks up their load and you keep doing that game through game and sharing that sort of load. We’re fortunate to be in that position. It doesn’t always work out that way, but we’re fortunate to be in that position.
[Reporter:]
The 18th over by Jansen went for 23 runs. Did it worry you guys that the next two overs they could have gone up to 200? What did you plan to stop that because the you’ll gave only 13 runs in the last two overs? Was there any discussion before these two overs were called? And the other thing is, do you think your team is speaking too early?
[Aiden Markram:]
Yeah, I think the planning was exactly what happened in the last two overs, so the guys executed that and got it right and kept them under that 200 mark. But West Indies is always a team that you, I mean they can make 60 in three overs and it’ll feel like it’s normal. So you have to appreciate that and ultimately back your plans which I thought the guys did really well. Peaking too early, it’s hard to say. We’ve just taken it game by game and trying to tackle it head-on and see where it sort of gets us. So yeah hopefully we can keep continuing the good cricket we’re playing.
[Reporter:]
So South Africa have played five matches here, so how do you think that experience helped you with both bat and ball today or did it at all?
[Aiden Markram:]
Yeah we’ve been fortunate to play here for sure. We sensed it was tacky up front, it was tacky in the previous day game that we played here and obviously that affects the toss and how you operate in the power play I guess – so that familiarity helps I think the guys get comfortable with conditions and knowing what to expect. Having said that the India wicket that was completely different to what we’ve had here. And still nowadays you have to keep a really open mind and try and come up with plans and adapt to the wicket as much as you can.
