Kolkata, March 4 -- South Africa skipper Aiden Markram credited New Zealand's explosive opening pair for taking the game away from his side in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup semi-final, admitting that a special innings from Finn Allen left the Proteas with little room to recover.

Speaking during the post-match presentation after South Africa's nine-wicket defeat at Eden Gardens, Markram acknowledged that while his bowlers started well, New Zealand's aggressive powerplay batting proved decisive.

"I think you look at the conditions, and they bowled really well up front. Credit to their bowling unit. And obviously, when someone plays an innings like that, you don't often come out on the right side of that. To get to 170 was a great effort to ...