Pat Cummins, Travis Head lead the way as Australian players salute Aiden Markram in WTC final

Hindustan Times

13 hours ago

Australians are as tough as it gets on the field. The easiest way to earn their respect is by performing against them. Ask Aiden Markram. The South African opener, who was out for a duck in the first over of Mitchell Starc in the first innings of the WTC final, was congratulated by almost every Australian player after his superlative century in the second innings. The fact that Makram's century could possibly mean Australia would not be able to win back-to-back WTC titles did not deter captain Pat Cummins, batters Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and wicketkeeper Alex Carey from doffing their hats to him.
At the close of play on Day 3 at Lord's, the Australian cricketers, led by Cummins, walked one by one towards Markram and shook his hands. Cummins and his battery of fast bowlers threw everything at Markram. At times, they were a bit defensive, but mostly, Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Starc were at it all the time. But a determined Markram showed no signs of relenting.
Barring an outside off Cummins when he was batting on 23 that didn't carry to Alex Carey, Markram did not put a foot wrong. If anything, he was supremely cautious of his off stump, assumed of his foot movements and was quick to latch on to anything loose. His strike rate of 64 and 11 boundaries was proof of that.
It was only fitting that Markram reached his century with a boundary. What followed was an overflow of emotions. Markram teared up but quickly gathered his composure. He then soaked in the applause, which included a standing ovation from the Lord's crowd, and thanked the stars by looking upwards.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma, who was Markram's batting partner in South Africa's pursuit to end their 27-year-long wait for an ICC title, was the first to hug Markram for his 8th Test century. Seven balls later, stumps was called and then it was the turn of the Australian cricketers to shake hands and pat Makram on his back.
The crowd cheered and clapped as Markram led the players off the field. South Africa still needed 69 runs to win but what Makram had done was nothing short of outstanding. He became the first visiting batter since former Australia captain Michael Clarke in 2009 to hit a fourth innings at Lord's. It was the third century in the second innings overall. His unbeaten 102 took him second on the list of most second-innings Test centuries behind Graeme Smith (4).
'We certainly know he is someone for the big occasion, of that there is no doubt,' South Africa batting coach Ashwell Prince said.
"He has done some technical work but not a lot. In the last little while, he has had a tendency to push his hands away from his body and cut across the ball, but it was not a big fix, and as soon as he saw a few videos, it was simple.
'Albeit in a losing cause at Newlands, on a difficult pitch, he played an unbelievable innings against India last year and scored a ton on that surface — so we know what he is capable of.'
Despite the first-innings duck, Markram remained confident in his technique after scoring five fifties in 13 innings at the Indian Premier League. They weren't in the same format but they put him in a good headspace for the WTC final.