Markram's historic Lord's ton, first-ever by a Proteas player in an ICC tournament final, and his 143-run unbeaten stand with skipper Temba Bavuma have left SA just 69 runs short with eight wickets to go in pursuit of their first-ever world title in the sport.
During a run-chase of 282 in what had been an absolutely hellish match for batters so far, Markram put on an unbeaten century partnership with skipper Temba Bavuma, ending the day with 102* in 159 balls, with 11 fours. Thanks to the efforts of these two, Proteas is just a few more runs away
At the end of day three, SA was 213/2, with Markram (102*) and Bavuma (65*) unbeaten. They need 69 runs to win in their run-chase of 282 runs. This is the first-ever century by a Proteas player in an ICC tournament final.
Smith was standing in close at slip with a helmet on when South Africa captain Temba Bavuma edged one into the cordon off pacer Mitchell Starc, and the Australia veteran grassed the chance with Bavuma on just two at the time.
South Africa's David Bedingham exuded "confidence" in the Proteas' ability to gun down whatever target Australia throws at them and assured that they will approach the fourth innings chase with "belief" in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Bedingham 39* and wicketkeeper batter Kyle Verreynne 11 * remained not out on the crease at Lunch, exceeding their partnership on 27 for the sixth wicket.
It was wickets galore for pacers as except for Steve Smith and Beau Webster's fifties, none of the batters across both sides could make it big during the opening day of the WTC final. The highlight with the ball was Kagiso Rabada's five-wicket haul for Proteas and the way Mitchell Starc came
Kagiso Rabada etched another milestone into his illustrious career on Day 1 of the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord's, as he surpassed South African great Allan Donald to move into fourth place on South Africa's all-time list of Test wicket-takers. He pulled the Proteas back into
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and opted to bowl against the defending champions Australia under the gloomy sky of London's iconic venue, Lord's, in the World Test Championship final on Wednesday.