Set a stiff target of 282 to win the World Test Championship, Aiden Markram’s unbeaten century puts Proteas on track to end their ICC title drought, need 69 runs with 8 wickers in hand to win the final. Under grim skies, Aiden Markram celebrated a hundred that would define his career.
Aiden Markram waited patiently for the moment, for the right ball and time, in the penultimate over of the game, after just a run in his last seven balls. Then Josh Hazlewood veered onto his legs and he flicked the ball to the fence. The celebrations were quiet, in sync with his mild-mannered nature. This was the day he had dreamt all his life. To score one of the most significant knocks for his country. The fulfilment of a promise. The pinnacle of a schizophrenic career.
There were signs from the start. Just the sixth ball he faced on the sun-lit day at Lord’s, Aiden Markram jinked to his back foot, rose with the climbing ball, on tip-toes, conquered the bounce and coaxed the ball from Hazlewood wide of the cover fielder. The audience, among them the Australian fielders, stood in awe, hands to their mouth.
It was one of the several strokes Aiden Markram authored that both delighted and bemused the beholder. A batsman with such oeuvre of dazzling strokes, gift of timing and touch, ethics and attitude his coaches would swear, have not quite transformed into a batting mainstay.
Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram etched their name in the history books as they pair put South Africa on the cusp of their maiden World Test Championship (WTC) title with a stunning display with the bat on Day 3 of the clash. The duo put up an unbeaten partnership of 143 runs as South Africa went into stumps at 213-2 on Day 3. Markram has already completed a century (102*) while Bavuma is batting on 65. The Proteas will come to bat on Day 4, just 69 runs away from the target as they aim to lift an ICC trophy after 27 years.
Temba Bavuma-Aiden Markram Create History on Day 3
Bavuma and Aiden Markram have etched their name in the history books and become the first pair in history to put up a century partnership in a WTC final in a team’s second innings. Previously, New Zealand’s Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson put up the highest partnership in the third or fourth innings of the summit with a 96-run stand against India in the 2021 final at Southampton.
Infact, Bavuma and Aiden Markram are only the third pair in history to score a 100+ partnership in a WTC final after Australia’s Travis Head-Steve Smith (285) and India’s Ajinkya Rahane-Shardul Thakur (109). Both efforts had come in the 2023 final at Oval
| Players | Runs | Innings | Team | Opponent | Year |
| Temba Bavuma-Aiden Markram | 143 | 4 | South Africa | Australia | 2025 |
| Kane Williamson-Ross Taylor | 96 | 4 | New Zealand | India | 2021 |
| Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc | 93 | 3 | Australia | India | 2023 |
| Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane | 86 | 4 | India | Australia | 2023 |
| Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith | 62 | 3 | Ausrtalia | India | 2023 |
Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma gets special praise from Kevin Pietersen
Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has praised Aiden Markram and South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma after they built a seemingly match-winning partnership to take their team close to a historic title win in the World Test Championship final at the Lord’s against the mighty Aussies.
Opener Aiden Markram, dismissed for a duck in the first innings, was 102 not out and Temba Bavuma unbeaten on 65 despite spending most of his innings limping with a hamstring injury.
Aiden Markram, aggressive from the outset, punched and pulled Australia skipper Pat Cummins for well-struck boundaries.
“V v v v v good from Markram & Bavuma! With victory being so close, it’ll still be a nervy sleep! I hope Lords is at capacity tomorrow morning for the first ball,” Pietersen tweeted on Friday night.
Australia spinner Nathan Lyon almost dismissed both Aiden Markram and Bavuma, with the centurion aiming a booming drive at a turning off-break, just to miss the delivery before it beat wicketkeeper Alex Carey as well. Aiden Markram went to 97 with a brilliant straight-driven four off Josh Hazlewood and, before stumps, clipped the pacer through midwicket to complete his century with an 11th boundary in 156 deliveries faced.
“A century of the highest class from Aiden Markram! 💯🔥 Composed under pressure, fearless in execution, what a time for a knock for the ages. 💪,” Cricket South Africa tweeted.
“The last time Aiden Markram had a 50+ score in an ICC final 👀⏳,” his IPL team, Lucknow Super Giants, tweeted, with an image from the 2014 U19 World Cup, where Markram led his team to a win against Pakistan in the final.
Part-time spinner Aiden Markram succeeded where the frontline bowlers had failed when Hazlewood holed out to end a 59-run stand for the last wicket. Aiden Markram took guard and defended Hazlewood’s last ball with utmost conviction. With 69 runs still to get, there was unfinished business but Aiden Markram, unbeaten on 102 off 159 balls, knew he had only written one half of South Africa’s greatest moment in cricket.
Also Read: ICC WTC 2023-25: “We Are Playing For A Trophy”- Mark Boucher’s Direct Jibe Ahead Of Final