SA20: Aiden Markram pulls off ‘catch of season’ to leave crowd, commentators stunned – WATCH

South Africa white-ball captain Aiden Markram is among the most athletic fielders and is known to pick blinders on the field, an example of which he displayed during the SA20 Qualifier 1. Fielding at the mid-on area, Markram pulled off a one-handed stunning catch, something the commentators called the ‘best catch of the season’, leaving everyone in awe of his efforts.

With the Durban Super Giants reeling at 13 for two at one stage in the chase of 158, Ottniel Baartman bowled a short of a good length delivery, giving JJ Smuts room to smash it anywhere he liked. Smuts mistimed it to the leg-side area, with the ball once looking like going over the fielder (Markram). However, a one-handed jump to his wrong side denied Smuts a boundary as Markram grabbed a stunning catch to put his team ahead.

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Leading Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) to their second successive final in SA20, Markam sounded confident in inspiring his team to back-to-back titles. After the game, which SEC won by 51 runs, Markram said he is happy to see his team in this position, having won close ties earlier in the group stages.

“I wouldn’t say anything new that we've done or tried. Looking back at the group stages of the competition, we have had quite a few close games. And if you manage to win those close games, or most of them at least, you end up sitting in a great position,” Captain Markram said after leading SEC to a win in Qualifier 1.

'Fantastic opportunity to learn'

Markram, who leads South Africa’s ODI and T20I teams, is also the captain of his IPL franchise (SunRisers Hyderabad). Explaining what it means for him to lead his SA20 team to glory (with some captaincy experience on his back), the Protean said, “Yeah, it's been fantastic. There is an opportunity to learn a lot in the last year or so that I have been captain. I have been captaining for a while, so it’s nice to be captain again and take up that responsibility.

"Obviously, you learn on the job and make the team a better place for everyone to enjoy themselves and be the better team on the field as well. "Love the opportunity to be captain and the responsibilities that come with it. A lot of credit goes to the management at SEC, and the players that have walked in here have understood the culture and how we like things to run,” Markram said.

Meanwhile, SEC will face the winner of Qualifier 2 to be played between Durban Super Giants and Joburg Super Kings in the final of SA20 2024.