Ricky Ponting praised Aiden Markram for his amazing century in the fourth innings of South Africa’s World Test Championship (WTC) final, which helped them defeat Australia by five wickets at Lord’s Cricket Ground last week. Markram struck 136 off 207 balls, including 14 boundaries, as South Africa chased a 282-run target to win their first ICC title in 27 years.

Ponting, who produced a match-winning century in the 2003 ODI World Cup final against India, understands the immense pressure that comes with a big game. He mentioned Travis Head’s hundreds against India in the WTC final in 2023 and the ODI World Cup final against the same team later that year. The former Australia captain believes Markram’s century ranks alongside Head’s, especially given the added pressure the Proteas batter would have had due to South Africa’s long-standing ICC title drought.

“When you look back through big ICC events, I think the first thing that probably comes to mind is World Cup finals,” Ponting told ICC Digital at the time. “And then perhaps Travis Head’s innings (137) in the World Cup 2023 final, followed by the last World Test Championship final (163). And this one has to be as good as any of them, given the platform and the state of South African cricket in recent years, particularly their Test team.”

Ricky Ponting stated that Markram’s performance versus Pat Cummins and Co. in the year’s largest red-ball match helped him improve his reputation.

“The ability to stand up and perform like that when your team needs you the most is what reputations are built on. “I think everyone has always known Markram was a great player,” Ponting said.