Aiden Markram, the architect of South Africa’s series-leveling victory over India in the second ODI in Raipur, felt accountable for the visitors’ narrow defeat in the first ODI adding that scoring runs only matters when the team wins.
In the first ODI at Ranchi, where India won the high-scoring match by 17 runs, Markram was dismissed cheaply but his 110 on Wednesday paved the way for South Africa’s four-wicket victory in a chase of 359.
Talking to the media in Raipur after the match on Wednesday, Markram said, “Runs only matter if you win games, to be fair, or at least for me. If we’d lost today, I’d be as miserable as I would have been in the previous game. Getting the result is something that makes me really happy.”
Referring to the opening game, Markram added, “Being three (wickets) down early in the first game, a lot of that is the difference in the results I feel. From a personal point of view I felt quite responsible for that.”
Dewald Brevis’ quick 34-ball 54 and Matthew Breetzke’s calm 68 came after Markram’s century on Wednesday, helping the Proteas chase down the target with four balls to spare.
“It felt like we were living the first game out again today,” he said as South Africa stuttered but crossed the line.
Markram claimed that because batters had to step up and fulfill their roles, there wasn’t much conversation during the mid-innings break.
“There wasn’t much to be honest. You kind of know how to chase 350 (or) 360, you have to take the game on a bit and manage that with setting the game up and being smart in between as well,” he said.
“It wasn’t a collective discussion, it was each guy backing their game and the options that they feel confident in doing and trusting that and hopefully it comes off,” Markram added.
In the third ODI in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, South Africa will have the opportunity to defeat India in their home country thanks to the series-leveling victory. This would add significantly to the group’s growing record of accomplishments ahead of the two white-ball World Cups in subsequent years.
“All of it feels like it’s very far away still, but belief and confidence are probably the two things that you can take as a group,” Markram said. “To chase quite a big number (of target) gives the group belief and confidence that the next time you’re in that position, (we can say) ‘we’ve done it before and we can do it again’.”
Young batsmen Brevis and Breetzke, whose 92-run partnership for the fourth wicket took the match away from India, received a lot of plaudits from Markram.
“Brevis hits the ball (for) miles. He takes the game (head) on. He’s not afraid to put bowlers under pressure and as cricket lovers, I suppose it’s great to watch. It’s really entertaining,” he said.
“Matthew Breetzke has had an incredible start to his ODI career. He managed the situation really well today. I think, he’s only played 10, 11 (or) 12 games. But the way he batted today was like this guy’s got at least 50 caps under his belt.”
“(It’s) a big plus for us to have the side of Matthew Breetzke that can really take the game on and then the side of Matthew Breetzke that can also manage the chase quite nicely,” Markram said.
