"Don't Nick a Part-Timer": Steve Smith's Humorous Take on Aiden Markram Dismissal in WTC 2025 Final

In a thrilling match between the two titans of the red-ball format, Australia began the World Test Championship Final 2025 by batting first after South Africa won the toss and chose to field at the Lord's. The Proteas took two early wickets in the first session of Day 1 after the decision was made, but veteran batsman Steven Smith entered the game at No. 4.

The right-handed batsman began to maintain stability from his end, but wickets were falling at regular intervals on the other end. After 23.2 overs, the scorecard read 67 for 4, at which point Marco Jansen dismissed Travis Head. However, the Sydney natives held the fort firm and rescued the Australians from dire circumstances. However, part-time off-spinner Aiden Markram ended his innings on just the fourth delivery.

Steven Smith leaves everyone in stitches:

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Steve Smith, a test stalwart, had a lot on his plate, but he delivered when the team needed him most. The best batter of this generation is most likely Steve Smith. He consistently demonstrates that he thrives on challenges. Smith amassed a stout 66 runs at a strike rate of 58.93 from 112 balls. After Travis Head and Cameron Green left in rapid succession, Smith teamed up with Beau Webster to save Australia from what appeared to be a mini-collapse.

A reporter asked Smith, "Is there anything you learnt from your lesson today that you might do differently when you get a bat in the second innings?" To this, he replied, "Don't nick the part-time off-spinner (chuckles). [The ball was going] Down the slope, I'm still trying to fathom how I've done that. But, yeah, don't do that. Just play what's in front of us, and, might take a bit more spin as the game wears on. It's pretty dry. I don't know, the seam might go down as the game goes on as well, potentially. So I think the bounce is going to be variable throughout the game, as we've seen already on day one. So, yeah, hopefully we can get a few early ones in the morning and sort of go through them and have a bit of a lead. That's the ideal scenario for us right now."

Aiden Markram later dismissed the Australian star. Steve Smith gave a humorous response when asked about his takeaways from the first innings following the conclusion of the day's play. Smith's funny response was that he should quit stealing the ball from a spinner who only plays occasionally.

After being asked to bat on the first day of the World Test Championship Final, the Australians did fail, but they were brilliant with the ball and had South Africa reeling. Only 212 runs could be scored by Australia. At the end of Day One, South Africa is behind by 169 runs and has lost four wickets.

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