June 14, 2025 - The WTC Final 2025 is being played between South Africa and Australia at the historic Lord's cricket ground from June 11. At the end of Day 3, South Africa's score was 213/2.

The day started badly for the African team, but Aiden Markram turned things around with a brilliant century. After getting out for zero in the first innings, Markram surprised everyone by scoring a superb hundred in the second innings. With this knock, he also gave a strong reply to his critics. Markram’s century not only brought South Africa closer to a historic win in the World Test Championship Final at Lord's, but also helped him break many records.

Markram’s Record-Breaking Century

Australia seemed to have the upper hand at the start of Day 3 of the WTC Final 2025. A solid 59-run partnership between Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood extended their lead and set South Africa a target of 282 runs to win.

The pitch was much better for batting compared to the earlier days. In the third over of the day, Starc dismissed Ryan Rickelton, but opener Markram held his ground and stayed firm at the crease.

Before the end of the third day, Markram completed a brilliant century. At stumps, he remained unbeaten on 102 runs off 159 balls. South Africa now needs only 69 more runs to win, with 8 wickets still in hand. With this century, Markram broke many records and played a key role in South Africa’s push for a historic WTC title.

First-Ever Century in 4th Innings of a WTC Final

Markram has become the first player in World Test Championship Final history to score a century in the fourth innings. Before this, the highest fourth-innings score in a WTC Final was 52 runs by Kane Williamson against India in 2021.

First South African to Score 4th Innings Century at Lord’s

Markram also became the first South African batsman to score a century in the fourth innings at Lord’s. Before him, only five foreign players had achieved this: Gordon Greenidge, Roy Fredericks, Michael Clarke, Ajit Agarkar and Don Bradman.

First South African to Score a Century in an ICC Final

This century made Markram the first South African batsman to score a hundred in the final of any ICC tournament - a major milestone in his career and for South African cricket.

Markram Joins Elite Club of 4th Innings Centurions

This was Markram’s 8th Test century, and his 3rd in a fourth innings. He is now only the seventh opener to score three or more hundreds in the fourth innings of a Test match. Sunil Gavaskar and Graeme Smith lead the list with four each, followed by Herbert Sutcliffe, Geoffrey Boycott, Graham Gooch, and Gordon Greenidge - all with three, just like Markram.

Duck to Century: A Rare Feat at Lord’s

In the first innings of the WTC Final 2025, Markram was dismissed for a duck in the very first over by Starc. But he came back strongly in the second innings with a century. With this, he became only the ninth batsman in history to score a duck and a century in the same match at Lord’s. The last to do this was Misbah-ul-Haq in 2016.