South Africa stepped up when it mattered in turbulent path to World Test Championship final
'It's an opportunity to do something special,' says stalwart batter Aiden Markram on the Proteas' bid for the mace.
South Africa's journey to the World Test Championship (WTC) final has been a rollercoaster that they hope ends with the mace in their hands when they take on Australia at Lord's Cricket Ground this week.
It's been a two-year journey that began terribly, with South Africa losing three of their first four matches. Two were against New Zealand when the Proteas sent a weakened side to the Land of the Long White Cloud at the start of 2024, because, in a calendar clash, their best players were contractually obliged to play in the SA20.
The other loss was against India at Newlands Cricket Ground on the New Year's Test in 2024, when the Proteas lost by seven wickets in one of the strangest matches in cricket history. The match lasted only 107 overs – less than two days – the shortest completed Test match.
South Africa were skittled for 55 and 176 in their two innings. Opener Aiden Markram scored 106 in the second innings. The second-highest score was 15 by Kyle Verreynne, with, in the entire match, only four other SA batters reaching double figures.
It was an unbelievable knock, but a match Markram surprisingly barely recalls. His memory of the matches South Africa won in the WTC cycle is a lot better, and those he speaks of with pride.
'The Sri Lanka game at Kingsmead was quite special,' Markram told Daily Maverick at Lord's. '[We were] cruising, we lost a few poles and emotions were all over the place, then Marco [Jansen] and KG [Rabada] got us over the line. That was a really cool game.'
That match was at the start of the previous home Test summer that ended with the Proteas' sealing a spot in the WTC final.
The Proteas' tails were between their legs after being bundled out for 191, before Jansen's seven wickets in 6.5 overs, which saw the Lankans dismissed for 42. South Africa went on to win by 233 runs.
Leadership
While most in the team have fond memories of their two-wicket win over Pakistan at Centurion on the Boxing Day Test last year, when Rabada and Jansen's 51-run ninth-wicket partnership secured their place in the WTC final, Markram takes pride in what happened after.
'The last one against Pakistan, after we had qualified, to test the character of the team if they're still going to be up for it, if they're still down to win,' he said.
'Pakistan pushed us all the way at Newlands. We bowled plenty of overs where we were in the dirt nicely there and the guys found a way to win, by 10 wickets.
Another box ticked by South Africa was winning a series in the subcontinent for the first time in 10 years after crushing Bangladesh by seven wickets and then an innings and 273 runs in their two-match series last year, before they played Sri Lanka.
'The Bangladesh tour was huge,' Markram said. 'Winning in the subcontinent for the first time in however many years. There's been really good things that have happened along the way for us to get here now.'
Markram was the captain on that Bangladesh tour, after regular skipper Temba Bavuma re-injured his elbow.
The powerful opening batter has taken his role as a senior member of the side and part of the leadership group seriously as he tries to help the youngsters stepping in.
'It is very individual,' Markram said. 'I'm there to be a sounding board for Temba, who's leading the way and to bounce ideas off each other on the park from a tactical point of view.
'But off the field, it's really important for me to be there for the younger guys, for the guys coming through, the guys that maybe haven't experienced things and to let them know it's never [quite] as difficult as it seems. Being there for them in that regard and just making sure mentally they're in a really good space.'
On coach's support
While the past two years have been a whirlwind for the national side, it's been particularly up and down for Markram. The 30-year-old is South Africa's third-highest run scorer in the current WTC cycle with 572 (one hundred and three fifties). Only Bavuma and David Bedingham have scored more.
But his Test career was at a crossroads just before the cycle got under way.
South Africa's final series before Shukri Conrad took over as head coach was against Australia at the back end of 2022. Markram was dropped from the Test squad that toured Down Under.
When Conrad took the helm three months later, Markram was called straight back into the side, with the coach declaring him the best opening batter in the country, having worked with him since he was 19 in the SA Academy side.
'Any player will tell you that when a coach backs you like that, it helps you go out there and puff your chest out and believe in yourself and try to perform,' Markram said.
'I've come a long way with Shuks, from basically just out of school and here we are 10 years later, and it sort of feels like a full circle moment.
'He's not just backed me like that, he's backed each and every individual in the group, and I do think that brings the best out of all the players.'
Now, 26 months since his recall and 28 since Conrad's appointment, South Africa are one match away from their first International Cricket Council trophy since 1998.
'You would be silly to say it's just another game,' Markram said. 'It's pretty much as big as it gets at one of the coolest venues against one of our oldest rivals. It definitely doesn't get bigger than that; that's what excites us.
'It's an opportunity to do something special at an incredible venue against a great opposition, so that's the exciting part of it.' DM
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