ESPNcricinfo Awards 2025 men's Test batting winner: Markram's mountain

Markram's innings will go down as South Africa's most celebrated Test innings after it sealed the World Test Championship mace and gave his team a first global trophy in 27 years.

Asked to complete what would be the second-highest successful chase in Tests at Lord's, and with the pressure of a final and their own history of botching up big moments hanging heavy over them, South Africa needed someone with a strong temperament to take control. Markram got to work after the loss of an early wicket and combined a strong defence with a willingness to take the bowling on. He hit three fours in his first 32 balls but largely put the desire for flashiness as far away.

His most impressive attribute runs counter to what we expect from modern cricketers and their ability to accelerate. He was forced to slow things down and navigate a serious hamstring injury to captain Temba Bavuma in the interests of having the team's most experienced pair do the bulk of the work. But there were flashes of his natural attacking ability, particularly on the cut shot, and his unflappability. "I'm not going anywhere," his bat said with every shot, "and if you want me to, you'll have to move me."

Australia threw their elite quicks at him, in spell after spell, and Markram's ability to stay unrattled was immense. His century came off a delicate flick, whereupon he soaked in the moment, stoic until he glanced skywards and the tears came. That Bavuma hung back and let Markram take centre stage said plenty about the respect between the two.

Perhaps the best indicator of how impactful Markram's knock had been was that when he was dismissed, Australia did not celebrate; instead, every one of their fielders offered congratulations. Markram saved his smiles for the minutes after that, when the mace was won and he was offered a beer in the stands from a school friend as South Africa saluted the player who orchestrated their greatest achievement.

Two overs before tea on day three, with South Africa 90 for 2 - 192 runs away the target - Bavuma pulled up with a hamstring problem. He was on 9 at the time and the partnership with Markram worth 20, with most of South Africa's hopes hinging on it. The pair made it to the break, where Bavuma, Markram and the South Africa management had to make a decision about whether Bavuma would continue batting, knowing it could impact Markram's ability to rotate strike. Markram was asked if turning twos into ones would affect him and he said that he wanted Bavuma at the other end. The pair batted out the day, left South Africa 69 runs away from victory at stumps, and finished with a match-winning stand of 147.

3 Number of centuries Aiden Markram has scored in the fourth innings of Tests, second only to Graeme Smith for South Africa. Also the number of centuries Markram has made against Australia, in five Tests.

708 Number of runs Markram made in the 2023-25 WTC cycle, three behind Temba Bavuma and David Bedingham, which speaks to South Africa's collective effort.

"We certainly know that he's someone for the big occasion. When I talk about his ability to play big innings - albeit in a losing cause [against India in 2024] at Newlands on a very, very difficult pitch - he played an unbelievable innings. Everybody else was really struggling, and he got a hundred on that surface. So we know what he's capable of."
- Ashwell Prince

"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 [2023] World Cup final, and then the last World Test Championship final [163]. 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. To be able to stand up and perform like that when your team needs you the most is what reputations are made of."
- Ricky Ponting

"Probably the best innings any South African batter has ever played in Test match cricket."
- Kevin Pietersen

Travis Head
123 vs England, first Test, Perth
In an epically fast-forward Test - 19 wickets were lost on the first day, and it was all over on the second - Head lived up to his name and stood tall above everyone else, even when asked to do a role different from the one he was used to. He was made to open the batting after Usman Khawaja sustained back spasms, and took on the task of chasing 205 on a spicy pitch almost single-handedly. He made the second-fastest century in Ashes history, off 69 balls, and he hit 16 fours and four sixes in a blistering innings that put Australia on track to win the Ashes.