- June 16, 2025
Cricket’s script flipped faster than a googly—Day 3 was a masterclass in rewriting legacies. After a first-innings duck, Aiden Markram returned to Lord’s with a fair amount of inner baggage, then, with an utterly unassailable amount of poise, class, and mental strength, gave us an unbeaten 102. That innings wasn’t a chase—it was a masterclass in elegance under pressure, like painting a masterpiece during an earthquake. He flipped the game on its head while ticking off a few absolute beauties.
A Fourth-Innings Century at Lord’s – A Rarity for the Ages
It has always been a great success to score a Test hundred. But a hundred in the fourth innings? That’s groundbreaking.It’s not just a hundred—it’s a golden echo through the Long Room that whispers your name for generations.
Markram’s unbeaten 102 made him just the sixth player to score a century in the fourth innings at the Home of Cricket, joining players like Don Bradman (1938), Michael Clarke (2009), Gordon Greenidge (1984), and a few others. This is such an exclusive club, even a few of the best Test players of recent times will never be part of it.
More than a century, though, it was the way that Markram batted—cool under pressure, untouched by the Australians’ sledging, his concentration almost meditative—which stood out.
From Duck to Delight – Joining an Oddly Special List
Let’s take a second to recognize that Markram finished his first innings with a duck, scoring zero off six balls. Ouch! Then, with his century in the second innings, he did a complete 180, becoming just the ninth batter in Test match history to finish with one duck and one century in the same match at Lord’s.
And since 1980, there have been only two other players – Michael Vaughan (2002) and Misbah-ul-Haq (2016) – who also hold this strange, but very cool stat, that highlights Markram’s mental strength. Where most would break, he powered through the crack. That is brilliance in Test Cricket.
King of the Fourth Innings – A Special Club for Openers
Most openers subside as the fourth innings unfolds. There’s more swing, tricks on the pitch, and the pressure is beyond intense. Not Markram. This hundred makes it three in the fourth innings because in this category, he now joins some previous greats of the game, including Geoffrey Boycott, Graham Gooch, and Gordon Greenidge. The only players with more than three are Graeme Smith and Sunil Gavaskar, with four.
What’s that add even more spice? Markram is still only 30, and the record book for most centuries in the fourth innings by openers is still really achievable. Honestly, if his knock at Lord’s is a benchmark, he will get there much sooner than we think.
A Rare All-Round Day for a South African in England
We frequently refer to “all-round” performances, but what Markram achieved in this Test should be highlighted. He didn’t only score a hundred – he took wickets in both innings, claiming one in each. Markram became just the fourth South African to score a century and take wickets in the same Test match on English soil, having completed the hallowed double previously once, by three other greats, Bruce Mitchell, Graeme Pollock, and the great Jacques Kallis.
Markram’s off-spin, at times crude and often erratic, doesn’t always get the reward or value it should. His unbelievable knack for providing value at useful times is exactly what he adds to the mix. The Gold Medal final was no ordinary match; every run and wicket was worth a great deal of value to both teams. Markram delivered the kind of performance that turns tight games into timeless stories.
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