South Africa opening batter Aiden Markram played out of his skin in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at the Lord’s Cricket Ground to help the Proteas break their ICC title jinx and win a trophy after 27 years. South Africa chased down 282 in the fourth and final innings to win the third edition of the WTC. Markram was adjudged Player of the Match for his knock of 136 in the second innings.
Speaking after the win, Markram revealed how the heartbreak in the T20 World Cup final against India last year made him more focused and determined to not throw away his wicket against Australia.
In the WTC final against Pat Cummins and co, Markram registered a duck in the first innings. However, he stood up in the second innings to smash 136 runs against all odds against a quality attack comprising Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon.
In the T20 World Cup final against India, Markram came out to bat at No.3 when South Africa were set a target of 177. The right-hander disappointed as he walked back to the hut after scoring just 4 runs off 5 balls. He was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh.
Speaking to reporters after the WTC win, Markram revealed how he was thinking about the heartbreak in the T20 World Cup where Proteas fell short by seven runs in Barbados.
“I thought a lot about the T20 World Cup last night and how hopeless I felt sitting on the side after getting out. I was like, I don’t want to sit there again. So it gave me a bit of motivation to make sure I stay at the crease if I could,” said Markram.
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“But never once thought about the achievements and what would come with it. It was always about just trying to get the job done and trying to win,” he added.
Markram’s day to remember
In the WTC final, Markram smashed 136 runs off 207 balls with the help of 14 fours. He formed a 147-run stand for the third wicket with skipper Temba Bavuma in the fourth and final innings.
After the win in the WTC final, there was an outpouring of emotions from the Proteas side. Keshav Maharaj broke down while giving an interview to Graeme Smith while skipper Temba Bavuma failed to hold back his emotions as soon as the winning runs were hit.
“Yes, it’s as big and as tough as it gets. So all the questions that have been asked in the past have fortunately now been answered. The test one is always going to be, in my opinion, the toughest one. It’s many days of playing good cricket, whereas in a T20 or even one-day cricket nowadays, you just need one person to really put their hand up on the day, and you can get a win,” said Markram.
“So it was always going to be the toughest. It was always going to be a full team effort to get over the line. Guys chipped in exactly when they needed to. Something small like Mulder’s partnership last night or yesterday, That’s huge to take this thing out of the new ball,” he added.