"Probably the best innings.." Former SA-born English star awestruck after Markram's match-winning heroics in WTC Final
The now-retired English star heaps praise on Aiden Markram, who delivered a match-winning century in the WTC Final to help South Africa end their painful ICC title drought.
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English batting stalwart Kevin Pietersen heaped massive praise on South African opener Aiden Markram following his match-winning century in the fourth innings of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final, which derailed the defending champions Australia by a margin of five wickets. His innings had the inscription of skill, class, and resilience written all over it. In the epic WTC Final run chase, Markram left no scope for any slip-ups and toiled hard over 370 minutes to score 136 runs in 207 balls, thus single-handedly setting the game for the Proteas.
Markram's WTC Final ton leaves Pietersen awestruck
During his recent interaction with JioHotstar (via ANI), Pietersen made a confession in regards to Markram's knock, calling it the best knock by any South African in Test cricket. The cricketer-turned-commentator was amazed to see the way Markram went about absorbing the pressure and how successfully he was able to overcome the failures of the first innings.
"Probably the best innings any South African batter has ever played in Test match cricket. It might not go down as the most attacking or entertaining if you look back at South Africa's Test history -- but when you factor in the expectation, the stage, and the pressure after failing in the first innings, it was extraordinary."
Apart from taking South Africa to glory, Markram also managed to unlock some new milestones in Test cricket. He made it to the elite list of the highest score achieved by any visiting batter in the fourth innings of the Lord's Test. The 30-year-old shares the third spot in the list along with Michael Clarke of Australia.
| Score | Match |
| 214* | Gordon Greenidge (WI) vs ENG, 1984 |
| 138 | Roy Fredericks (WI) vs ENG, 1976 |
| 136 | Aiden Markram (SA) vs AUS, 2025 |
| 136 | Michael Clarke (AUS) vs ENG, 2009 |
| 109* | Ajit Agarkar (IND) vs ENG, 2002 |
| 102* | Sir Don Bradman (AUS) vs ENG, 1938 |
This was Markram's third Test century in the fourth innings. The 30-year-old now has the second-highest number of Test centuries in the fourth innings of the Test match after Sunil Gavaskar (4) and Graeme Smith (4). Pietersen highlighted that Markram was under immense pressure early doors when he lost Rickelton and Mulder in quick succession. But his calm demeanour and his mental toughness brought the mighty Aussies down on their news in the mega WTC Final.
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