Credit: ICC
Any team in the world expect their key players to show their courageous sides with their bats in the massive International Cricket Council (ICC) knockout games. When it comes to the finals, the matter becomes more serious for them as they want their batting stalwarts to never miss the opportunity to emerge as heroes. In the past, it's been witnessed how Ricky Ponting, MS Dhoni, and Gautam Gambhir exhibited their valiance and notched up match-winning knocks to help their teams hammer the opponents and bag the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy.
In the World Cup 2003, Ricky Ponting stepped up for Australia in the final against India in Johannesburg and smashed an unbeaten 141 to help his side thrash Sourav Ganguly and his men by a colossal margin of 125 runs. Similarly in the World Test Championship (WTC) finals, there have been some players who guided their teams to the distinguished mace through their tons.
Discussing more, SportsTiger has come up with three players who racked up hundreds in WTC finals
3. Steven Smith in 2023 final at the Oval
In the WTC 2023 final between Australia and India at the Oval, when the Aussies lost three wickets at a score of 76, Steven Smith stepped up and played a crucial innings of 121 off 268. His stellar knock included 19 fours. Riding on his sensational batting performance, Australia posted 469 runs in the first innings.
2. Aiden Markram in 2025 final at the Lord’s
In the third installment of the WTC final played at the iconic Lord’s, Aiden Markram held his nerves and helped his team to win the game by five wickets. The Proteas were tasked to chase 282 and Markram showed his belligerent side and struck his eighth Test century. His innings came at the time when South Africa lost Ryan Rickelton early. Along with his captain Temba Bavuma, Markram stitched a 147-run stand for the third wicket. He concluded his innings after scoring an effective 136(207) hitting 14 boundaries. Markram also became the Player of the Match (POTM) for his batting brilliance as the Proteas won an ICC title after 27 years
1. Travis Head in 2023 final at the Oval
In the WTC Final 2023, when Australia thrashed ndia by 209 runs, Travis Head emerged as the hero of the match for his extraordinary 163 runs. The southpaw, along with his senior colleague Steven Smith, decimated India’s bowling unit completely in the first innings. After the fall of three quick wickets, both Head and Smith took India’s bowling attack to the cleaners and maintained a 285-run stand. Head’s effort also made him the Player of the match.
