Ricky Ponting showered Aiden Markram with accolades for his performance. As South Africa chased a 282-run target to win their first ICC title in 27 years, Markram struck a tough 136 off 207 balls with 14 boundaries. At the Lord’s Cricket Ground last week, South Africa defeated Australia by five wickets thanks to an incredible century from Aiden Markram in the fourth innings of the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Ponting is aware of the tremendous pressure that comes with a big game because he struck the game-winning century against India in the 2003 ODI World Cup final. Travis Head’s centuries against India in the 2023 WTC final and the ODI World Cup final against the same team later that year were topics of conversation. Given the extra strain the Proteas batter would have been under because of South Africa’s protracted ICC title drought, the former Australia captain claimed that Markram’s century is on par with Head’s hundreds.
“When you look back through big ICC events, I think the first thing that probably comes to mind is World Cup finals,” Ponting stated to ICC Digital. “And then the final of the World Test Championship (163) and, most likely, Travis Head’s innings (137) in the World Cup (2023) final. And given the situation and the state of South African cricket over the past few years, especially with regard to their Test team, this one must be just as good as any of others.”
According to Ricky Ponting, Aiden Markram performance versus Pat Cummins and company in the year’s most important red-ball match has improved his standing.
“Reputations are built on your ability to step up and perform like that when your team needs you the most. “I believe that everyone has always been aware of Markram’s skill as a player,” Ponting continued.
For his outstanding batting performance in the WTC final, Markram, who guided South Africa to the 2024 T20 World Cup finals, was named Player of the Match.
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