The Afghanistan cricket team had a great tournament but the end of their T20 World Cup journey was highly disappointing as South Africa registered a big win over them in the first semi-final.
The match was played today at Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago and after winning the toss, Afghanistan chose to bat first but the South African bowlers were literally on fire as they wrapped up the whole Afghanistan team at the score of 56 runs in 11.5 overs. The Proteas chased the target successfully in 8.5 overs with 9 wickets in hand and Afghanistan’s dream run came to an end in a crashing manner.
However, fans of the Afghanistan cricket team feel that they had already made everyone proud by making an entry in the semi-finals and despite the loss, they will still be heroes of Afghanistan.
The head coach of Afghanistan, Jonathan Trott was very upset and while addressing the press-conference, he accepted that his players were not able to deal with the pressure of a big match but he is still proud of the boys and hopes that their performance will inspire the kids and youngsters to pick up bat and ball.
Trott said, “A lot to process really emotionally, physically, so all new territory for the guys and it all plays its part. I’m sure the guys hopefully learn from this experience what it takes to play international cricket and play against a bowling side like South Africa on a pitch that’s perhaps not conducive to high-scoring. We’ve found ways of winning games, we just couldn’t find a way today.”
Trott said that everyone associated with the Afghan camp is hurt today and what is more disappointing is that they came in high spirits to play well but there weren’t able to do that.
In his words, “Obviously it hurts at the moment. We arrived to the ground in high spirits ready to take on a strong South African side and make sure we gave a good account of ourselves. I feel like we haven’t done that today so that’s the most disappointing thing.”
He further said, “I’m very proud of the guys. This one performance doesn’t necessarily define the tournament. I hope that we’ve inspired young kids to pick up a bat and a ball and play cricket, and want to play for their nation and hopefully that everybody’s proud of the side.”
Here is the video in which you can hear Jonathan Trott talking his heart out in the press conference
Well played Afghanistan cricket team!
