South Africa finally ended the wait of 27 years to lift an ICC title after they defeated Australia by five wickets. in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lords on June 14. This was South Africa’s second outing in an ICC final in the span of the last one year. The Proteas made into the final of the T20 World Cup in 2024 which was their first appearance in the World Cup final. However, they ended up losing against India in the title clash in Barbados and ended as the runners.
This time, the Proteas didn’t let the opportunity slip as they defeated defending champions Australia to win the third edition of the World Test Championship. Aiden Markram, who was captain of South Africa in the 2024 T20 World Cup final loss, went on to score a match-winning 136(207) runs in the recently ended WTC final as South Africa successfully chased the target 282 runs on day four.
After winning the WTC title, Markram revealed that he though about the 2024 T20 World Cup final a night before the historic win and didn’t want to be on the losing side again. “I thought a lot about the T20 World Cup last night and how hopeless I felt sitting on the side after getting out,"Markram said in the post-match press conference, via ESPNcricinfo. “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 did I think about the achievements and what would come with it. It was always about just trying to get the job done and trying to win.”
I tried to take a sleeping tablet, but it didn’t work: Aiden Markram
Speaking further, Aiden Markram also revealed how restless he was feeling a day before the title win. The Proteas batters revealed that he was about to cry after reaching his hundred and also took sleeping pills a night before but it didn’t help.
“Yeah, it was weird last night. I was pretty emotional. Then the hundred happened, and a couple of tears leaked out that I was trying to fight. I tried to take a sleeping tablet, but 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," Markram said.
