T20 captain Aiden Markram praises gutsy South Africa debutant Donovan Ferreira

South Africa succumbed to an embarrassing 3-0 whitewash against rivals Australia in a one-sided series following a five-wicket loss in their final T20 clash.

The 25-year-old walked to the crease with the hosts on 122/5 after 13.1 overs, and went about his job without fear, hitting five sixes and one four before being run out by Josh Inglis. 

South African T20 skipper Aiden Markram was pleased with the debutants' effort which helped the Proteas reach a respectable total of 191/8 which they duly failed to defend as Australia powered themselves to a five-wicket win.

"You have to give credit to how a guy like Donovan played on debut," said Markram. 

"To come out and take the game on, that's what we're after. That was good to see. To get to 190 as a total is, I suppose you always take it. We could've been better but with 190 we were pretty much happy with it at the interval." 

We'll work in trying to get better and make them (South African fans) more proud," concluded the 28-year-old.

Ferreira had come into the side on the back of some impressive domestic performances which led to an acquisition for Rs. 50 lakhs at the IPL 2023 auction, after scoring 703 runs from 31 innings at an average of 31.95 with a healthy strike rate of 148.94.

South Africa will meet Australia again in a five-match ODI series which begins on Thursday at the Mangaung Oval, thereafter The Proteas are set to face Afghanistan and New Zealand in warm-up games as they prepare for the upcoming ICC World Cup in India next month.

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