Aiden Markram: Proteas experience will count against Afghanistan

The Proteas are unbeaten in this World Cup so far, after winning their last Super Eight game by three wickets against the West Indies to ensure their places in the last four. 

Markram believes they can continue their momentum into the semi-finals.

"There's nothing like clear and evident that you can put your finger on and be like, this is the exact difference," said Markram.

"I think we have been together as a group for quite some time now, and that experience and environment in the change room and off the field plays a big role in how things look on the field.

"The experience together as a team, and us being together for many years now, probably makes quite a big difference – I think guys have a lot of trust in each other and are definitely willing to put everything on the line for each other.

"So, once you've established that in a team, I think it goes a long way in what you see on the field from an actions point of view, and those two things that we've managed to get over some time now have helped us and landed us in a really good place."

All-rounder Marco Jansen also complimented Markram on being able to keep their heads level throughout the intensity of the World Cup, but the skipper insists they all play well together because they trust and believe in each other.  

"The mind is going pretty quickly, and sometimes all over the place, but you don't want to rub that off onto players, and I think the old cliché of, 'A bad plan that you commit to is still better than a good plan that you're not really committed to,'" he responded.

"So committing to something while we're out there and, as I mentioned, with us being together for quite some time, we all have a lot of trust in each other and decision-making – whether right or wrong – we're committed to that as a team, and that helps a lot.

"And I suppose sometimes things look calmer than what it is out there in the middle, but ultimately, if you can keep calm, it allows you to think pretty clearly and come up with some decent plans that, hopefully, can make a positive impact."

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