New Delhi, June 16 (IANS) Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has declared Aiden Markram’s magnificent 136, which helped South Africa win the ICC World Test Championship Final at Lord’s, to be just as impressive as any other match-winning performance in a title clash.

After bagging a duck in the first innings, Markram stood up to hit a magnificent 136, laced with 14 boundaries, as South Africa chased down 282 before lunch on day four’s play, and secured a major ICC championship win after 27 years of heartbreak in the knockout stages of various tournaments.

“When you look back through big ICC events, I think the first thing that probably comes to mind is World Cup finals. And then 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,” said Ponting on ICC Digital.

Markram’s heroics at Lord’s comes after he was dropped from the tour of Australia in the 2022/23 season, after a lean patch with the bat. But his 115 against the West Indies and another century against India at Cape Town signalled his revival in Tests.

“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 Markham was. And I must admit, a couple of years ago when South Africa toured Australia, I couldn’t believe that Aiden Markham 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,” concluded Ponting.

–IANS

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