South African batsman Aiden Markram’s match-winning innings of 136 in the ICC World Test Championship Final at Lord’s has been hailed as one of the greatest performances in a title clash by former Australian captain Ricky Ponting. Markram’s century helped South Africa chase down 282 before lunch on day four, securing their first major ICC championship in 27 years.Markram’s impressive knock, featuring 14 boundaries, came after he was dismissed for a duck in the first innings.The victory marked South Africa’s first major ICC trophy since their long streak of disappointments in knockout stages of various tournaments.
“When you look back through big ICC events, I think the first thing that probably comes to mind is World Cup finals. And then probably Travis Head’s innings (137) in the World Cup final, and then the last World Test Championship final (163). And this one’s got to be absolutely as good as any of those, considering the stage, considering where South African cricket’s been over the last couple of years, particularly their Test side,” Ponting said on ICC Digital.Markram’s performance is particularly noteworthy given his recent career trajectory. He was dropped from South Africa’s tour of Australia in the 2022/23 season due to poor form.Quiz: Who’s that IPL player?His return to form was signaled by a century of 115 against the West Indies and another hundred against India at Cape Town.“To be able to stand up and perform like that when your team needs you the most is what reputations are made of. I think everyone’s always known how good a player Aiden Markram was. And I must admit, a couple of years ago when South Africa toured Australia, I couldn’t believe that Aiden Markham wasn’t in that touring squad at all. He didn’t even make the squad. And here we are a couple of years later and he’s played one of probably his greatest knocks. I’m sure if you asked him, he’d probably say that that’s the knock that he’s most proud of in his Test career, and I am pretty sure his teammates who watched it all unfold would probably say the same thing. So, it’s a great individual achievement for him, and it’s a magnificent achievement for the South African team,” Ponting concluded.
