London: South African opener Aiden Markram said winning the mace through his match-winning knock has made for one of the most special days.
“Haven’t scored more important runs. Weird how things worked out after a duck in the first innings. Need a bit of luck, spent some time in the middle and find runs, glad things worked out. Reception will stick out. Lord’s is the place every Test cricketer wants to play. To play a final here is incredibly special. Plenty of SA fans who’ve made through, plenty at home too, it’s one of the most special days,” said Markram in the post-match presentation ceremony.
He further talked about his batting approach in the chase. “It’s always one side of the sword - to absorb, but when you look at the wicket and quality of the bowling, you have x amount of balls to face and have to try and maximise scoring off those balls. Lyon’s one of the best, have had plenty of banter, if this went to day five and it kept spinning, he’d have been a handful.”
Markram, who was named Player of the Match, also shared a 147-run stand with skipper Temba Bavuma, who made 66 despite a left hamstring strain. “To be honest, a lot of it came from him (in continuing to bat). He’s led us from the front for the last two-three years. He didn’t want to walk off the field yesterday, found a way to score really important runs, played an innings lot of people will remember,” he added. IANS
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