Jun 15, 2025 06:27 AM IST
Aiden Markram was full of compliments for his captain Temba Bavuma after he scored a fine 66 despite a hamstring strai
Aiden Markram established himself as a national hero on South Africa, capitalising on all his promise and his experience to score an incredible 136 at Lord’s Cricket Ground in his team’s 5-wicket victory over Australia in the World Test Championship final. Markram was good value for his man-of-the-match award, pushing his team over the line with his role in the 282-run chase, the second-highest successful one at this venue.
Key to South Africa’s win was Markram’s 147-run partnership with skipper Temba Bavuma, with Bavuma scoring 66 himself. Much of Bavuma’s innings was with a strained hamstring, as he soldiered on despite hobbling for singles and clearly in physical discomfort.
When asked about wanting Bavuma to bat on despite his injury, Markram credited his captain for his fighting spirit and leading by example. “To be honest, a lot of it came from him. He’s always led from the front for us, been incredible for us,” said Markram in his post-match interview. “Specifically in this campaign, these last two-three years. Obviously he was hurting, but he was never going to walk off the field. Found a way to score runs, really important runs, and form a partnership to get us close and those sort of knocks are something that a lot of people end up remembering.”
‘You only have an x amount of balls…’
Reflecting further on the approach he tried to bat with 207-ball innings, where he maintained a strong strike-rate throughout, Markram said: “We came into the second innings with quite a few concerns. Needed a little bit of luck here and there, and to spend some time in the middle and find some runs. Lord’s is the place every Test cricketer wants to play, to play in a final here is incredibly special. One of the most special days.”
“If you look at the wicket and the quality of bowling, you probably only have an x amount of balls to try and maximise and score out of those balls,” said Markram of his eighth career century in Test cricket.
South Africa’s five-wicket win brings them opportunity to celebrate a first title win in over a quarter of a century, before attention turns to the start of their WTC title defence in Pakistan later this year.
