Africa-Press – South-Africa. 100 on the dot. Not an extra run to spoil the perfect T20 innings.
Chris Gayle, Brenden McCullum, AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock have all scored mammoth Indian Premier League T20 hundreds near or at 150 but Aiden Markram’s on Thursday night had a beauty that went beyond bludgeoning the ball.
The Sunrisers Eastern Cape captain scored 100 from 58 balls as the Gqeberha side beat the Joburg Super Kings by 14 runs at SuperSport Park, Centurion, to make Saturday’s SA20 final against the Pretoria Capitals (16:30).
After picking the team up from 10/2 in 2 overs, Markram almost grew wings, batted from a superior position, where the ball met his bat right at the meat, as he picked the Super Kings bowlers apart, especially one Romario Shepherd.
After raising his bat following a six off Lizaad Williams, Markram was overcome with emotion. His partner Tristan Stubbs let out a squeal and Markram gestured as if he was throwing his bat down in disgust – the sigh that Temba Bavuma released when he scored a century against England in the second ODI in Bloemfontein last week.
“I think it was the occasion,” Sunrisers head coach Adrian Birrell said after the game.
“To come and perform and play an innings like that, in a semi-final and starting like we did under pressure, two down for next to nothing, I think the emotion came out because of the magnitude of the innings on the occasion of the semi-final.”
Markram possesses a maddening cricket talent, which has been there for all eyes since he was a Pretoria Boys’ High schoolboy. He was the next one after De Villiers – the one for all formats an occasions.
Yes, Quinton de Kock arrived with a tsunami of run-getting ability but Markram made you fall in love with cricket. His footwork was sublime, and played with an aesthetically sumptuous straight bat.
Fans expected Kallisian runs and De Villiers’ devilish displays.
The 1000-run Test debut season was the original sin. A bit like Jordan Spieth, he was on a record-breaking trajectory – if life and sport were linear.
Cricket South Africa, even, wanted so much more from him that they prematurely made him Proteas captain for a brief spell but that had the opposite effect.
While others used the willow, Markram batted with a crucifix upon which he was continuously hung. Each failure was scrutinised and anything short of a hundred was considered failure.
One is not a real batter until runs desert you and you have to look for them in dark domestic locker rooms around SA: the Diamond Oval in Kimberley, Potchefstroom and cobwebbed Pietermaritzburg.
Markram has consistently fallen down from the Proteas perch but has an incredible knack for shooting back up.
Birell, who was the Proteas assistant coach when Markram made his international debut in 2017, said pressure always comes with the international game but Markram was a lot more mature and experienced to deal with it.
“He’s obviously a great talent and we’re very fortunate at Sunrisers to have him as our captain,” said Birrell.
“But that’s international cricket; there’s pressure on all the players. It’s not only in South Africa but around the world.
“There is a pressure to perform and if you underperform, the pressure’s on and they’re looking at the next guy. They don’t give you a lot of time.
“So, he has been under pressure, but he’s very level-headed, and he’s a very mature player now and a very experienced player.
“He’s able to put perspective on his cricket and not put too much pressure on himself. I’m delighted with his inning tonight (Thursday), it was an innings we needed and we needed our big players to stand up and he led from the front.
“Hats off to him. I think his first 50 came in 40 balls and his next 50 came in 18. And that’s what AB de Villiers does – he scores those unbelievable innings, 50 off 18 balls, which aren’t often done.”
Birrell also extolled Markram’s leadership qualities in playing the knock he did at the precise time they needed him to.
He said Markram kept them calm and summed the situation up perfectly whenever they huddled up during the “strategic time-out”.
“We’ve seen calmness, confidence. He’s very calm, never flustered,” said Birrell.
“We do these time-outs and we go there and he’s spot-on. We’re looking at it from the outside and he’s always summed up the situation quite accurately and sometimes, being so close to it, you don’t see it as clearly as you should.
“He’s always seen the situation of the match very clearly.”
Birrell also gave kudos to Reeza Hendricks, who also rose to the requirements of the night with a splendid 96, which was not enough to help the Super Kings overhaul the Sunrisers’ 213/5 mark.
“Equally, Reeza Hendricks played an unbelievable innings as well and you’ve got to doff your cap to them. They were under pressure early on and both sides found it difficult in the first three overs.
“But both sides were able to fight back. Reeza Hendricks played an exceptional innings as well.”
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