Aiden Markram’s WTC 2025 final knock as good as Travis Head’s tons vs India in WTC and World Cup finals: Ricky Ponting

Former Australian captain and commentator Ricky Ponting has stated that Aiden Markram’s match-winning century against Australia in the WTC 2025 Final at Lord’s in London is right up there with Travis Head’s centuries against India in the WTC 2023 Final at The Oval and the ODI World Cup 2023 Final in Ahmedabad.

Notably, while Markram bagged a duck in the first innings of the WTC 2025 Final against Australia, he went on to score a title-winning century knock (136 off 207 balls) to steer his side to a five-wicket win to lift the country’s first-ever title win after 1998.

“When you look back through big ICC events, I think the first thing that probably comes to mind is probably Travis Head’s innings (137) in the World Cup final, and then the last World Test Championship final (163). And this one’s got to be absolutely as good as any of those, considering the stage, considering where South African cricket’s been over the last couple of years, particularly their Test side,” Ponting told ICC Digital.

Moreover, the former Aussie skipper also asserted that he couldn’t believe that Markram, who brought up his eighth Test century in the WTC final, wasn’t part of the South African squad that toured Australia in the 2022-23 season.

“To be able to stand up and perform like that when your team needs you the most is what reputations are made of. I think everyone’s always known how good a player Aiden Markram was. And I must admit, a couple of years ago when South Africa toured Australia, I couldn’t believe that Aiden Markram wasn’t in that touring squad at all. He didn’t even make the squad. And here we are a couple of years later and he’s played one of probably his greatest knocks. I’m sure if you asked him, he’d probably say that that’s the knock that he’s most proud of in his Test career, and I am pretty sure his teammates who watched it all unfold would probably say the same thing. So, it’s a great individual achievement for him, and it’s a magnificent achievement for the South African team,” he concluded.

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