Markram hails 'comfortable' cruise to win

You would struggle to find a pair of matches as contrasting as South Africa's games against New Zealand and Afghanistan across four days. About all that connected them is that they were both played in the men's T20 World Cup and both in Ahmedabad.

On Saturday, the South Africans were barely stretched in their seven-wicket thumping of the Kiwis. On Wednesday, they tied with the Afghans - and then needed not one but two super overs to scrape to victory.

"You want to win games like that," Aiden Markram said on Saturday about Wednesday's scramble to success. "It does a lot for the changeroom, for the vibe and the atmosphere in the sheds.

"But it's a lot more comfortable putting together more technical performances. The aim will always be for it to feel like it felt tonight. It's not always going to work out that way, but it's definitely easier to deal with. Mentally, at least."

Marco Jansen didn't disagree: "Tonight was a lot better mentally or emotionally. The other day, emotions were quite high. But to see different guys pitching in different stages when we needed them the most was a good thing."

Saturday brought something similar: "It's nice to see because previously it was a case of two or three or four guys - the same guys - coming off. If they didn't, we struggled to get over the line. Tonight, again, the bowlers as a unit, the batting unit as well, everyone chipped in."

Markram led from the front on Saturday with a career-best 86 not out off 44. That followed another career-best - Jansen's 4/40. The latter helped South Africa restrict New Zealand to 175/7, the lowest first innings in the three matches in the tournament played at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Markram was on the field from start to finish in the seven-wicket win, achieved with 17 balls to spare.

"You can't preach to the boys and not do it yourself," Markram, who played admirably straight to unfurl his largely orthodox strokes, said. "We've seen the way T20 cricket is moving forward, and we're lucky to get really good pitches in this competition so far. If those two things marry each other, you need to take it on up front.

"It's about finding out how you do it yourself. Slowly but surely, I feel like I'm starting to understand that. I don't think I'll ever be a proper slogger. I think I need to do it a bit differently maybe to other guys, but with the intent to still get the team off to a good start."

The result put the South Africans, who are unbeaten after three matches, all in Ahmedabad, on the brink of qualification for the Super Eights. Victory over the United Arab Emirates in Delhi on Wednesday would get them there. Perhaps their greatest challenge will be adjusting to the different conditions presented by playing at Arun Jaitley Stadium.

"It's a smaller ground, and the ball flies a lot further," Jansen said. "From a bowling point of view, it's always tricky playing in Delhi. I think the pitch will be good. There's more bounce and the ball also skids on.

"So I don't think we're going to change too much. We might play around with field placements and getting the angles exactly right. In Delhi, if your angles are wrong, the ball flies everywhere."

The New Zealanders would have nailed down a Super Eights spot had they won on Saturday. Instead they will go back to Chennai - where they beat Afghanistan and UAE - to get the job done against Canada on Tuesday.

That should happen, but Daryl Mitchell wasn't about to take another win for granted: "We'll just keep chipping away like Kiwis do."