South Africa opener Aiden Markram helped his country break the 27-year long trophy wait with a roaring ton against the mighty Australian bowling lineup. The star batter smashed a match-winning knock of 136, powering South Africa to its maiden World Test Championship title. Markram revealed how the T20 World Cup 2024 loss against India at Barbados motivated him to overcome the setback and shrug off the chokers tag.
“I thought a lot about the T20 World Cup last night and how hopeless I felt sitting on the side after getting out. I was like, I don’t want to sit there again. So, this gave me a bit of motivation to make sure I stayed at the crease, if I could. But never once thought about the achievements and what would come with it. It was always about just trying to get the job done and trying to win,” Markram said in the post-match press conference as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
In the final game of the T20 World 2024, Arshdeep Singh dismissed the right hand batter for mere four runs, setting the momentum for an India win in the game. But Markram overcame the setback in the next final he played, scoring at the biggest stage when the pressure was hardest and all eyes were on him.
He reacted to his fabulous knock that helped South Africa defeat Australia by five wickets. The batter revealed how even sleeping pills couldn’t help him sleep when he finally thought that SA will sail smoothly to the target on Day 4.
“Yeah, it was weird last night. I was pretty emotional. From about quarter past five, the game had slowed down. I had a bit of time to look around and see all the fans, the family, all the mates that were there … I was looking at the changing room. I was like, ‘Yes, we are now getting close’, and it caught me off guard. Then the hundred happened, and a couple of tears leaked out that I was trying to fight. I tried to take a sleeping tablet, it didn’t work. The mind just couldn’t switch off. But fortunately, today wasn’t ever going to be a full day, so I knew it would be fine,” he added.
Aiden became the first opener and third player along with Steve Smith and Travis head to score a hundred in the WTC final. Both Smith and Head scored the tons against India during the 2023 WTC final.
