The boys are fully locked in, says SA skipper Markram

South Africa skipper Aiden Markram allayed concerns about complacency setting in after beating strong teams like New Zealand, India and the West Indies quite comprehensively.

“It doesn’t feel easy, to be honest,” said Markram after beating the West Indies by nine wickets in the Super Eight clash on Thursday.

“The boys, in every game and every meeting, are fully locked in. We’ve been on both the good and bad sides of World Cups, and it’s definitely not something this group would take for granted.”

“The guys have a lot of pride and are really on a mission to try to achieve something. For the time being, the guys have been tracking really well,” the 31-year-old added.

Markram also praised his bowlers for adapting to the conditions and restricting the Caribbean side to a below-par score.

The South African quicks hit the deck hard, using the extra bounce to take wickets with the new ball before relying on variations in the death overs.

“Credit to the bowlers for getting it right the way they did.

“More often than not, you end up doing one thing throughout, and for them to adapt and change while still executing was a big feather in their cap.”

Meanwhile, West Indies skipper Shai Hope conceded that his team failed to assess the conditions and execute properly.

“I think it all always boils down to execution, but sometimes when you don’t adapt and assess as quickly as you can, you find yourself playing catch-up,” said Hope.

When asked if the team could have been a bit more circumspect after losing wickets in the PowerPlay, he defended the approach.

“There’s no set or particular way I think they need to go about it. It’s just how best we can execute on a given day in whichever situation we’re faced with. It always boils down to execution”.