WTC Final: Australia assistant coach hails 'exceptional' Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma as South Africa near historic win

Australian assistant coach Daniel Vettori acknowledged South Africa's strong position in the ICC World Test Championship final at Lord's after day three, with the Proteas requiring just 69 runs with eight wickets remaining. Aiden Markram's historic century and his unbeaten 143-run partnership with captain Temba Bavuma have brought South Africa closer to their first world title in cricket.

South Africa reached 213/2 in 56 overs, with Markram scoring an unbeaten 102 and Bavuma fighting through a hamstring injury to reach 65 not out.


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"I think there was optimism in the way we started with Starc and Hazlewood. There was a really good partnership to put together a total that obviously, considering the rest of the how the match had played out, was a challenging one. But under those conditions, Markram and Bavuma were exceptional and were able just to, I suppose, navigate their way through any tricky situations and then be able to put pressure back on us when it was opportune time. So it was a pretty benign wicket and obviously conditions were not assisting the ball, but that partnership was exceptional," Vettori said during the press conference.



The Australian coach expressed concern about the difficult task ahead while praising the South African batsmen's performance.

"But I think with the nature of where the ball is at and the surface, it is a difficult task, but it is a task that the group has probably done at times throughout the last three, four, some of them five, six, even longer years. But I think there is an appreciation of how well Bavuma and Markram batted to put all that pressure back on us. So, to get one of them tonight may have given that optimism. So it is going to be a real challenge tomorrow," he added.

Regarding Steve Smith's finger injury after dropping Bavuma's catch in the slips, Vettori said they would wait for the hospital results before providing any updates.

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When asked about bowling variations, Vettori praised Mitchell Starc's natural ability to adapt.

"He does that naturally and his ability to change his length and potentially swing the ball both ways. I think the success that has come from the surface has been that six to eight meter length. That is what South Africa did so well. That is what we did in the first innings. So there is sometimes an appetite for that, but there is also a concern around the score running away from us," he explained.

"And sometimes when you go to that short ball stuff, it is hard to control the scoreboard. And that was probably our fear today, that if we could hang in those areas long enough, something would happen, like it has in the rest of the test match, but it was not to be," Vettori added.

Earlier in the day, South Africa made steady progress with Markram and Wiaan Mulder putting together a solid partnership in the second session.



Mitchell Starc's impressive innings of 58 not out had helped Australia reach 207 all out from a precarious position of 152/9, setting South Africa a target of 282 runs.

Australia's first innings score was 212, while South Africa managed 138 in their first attempt. The current match situation shows Australia at 207 in their second innings, with Starc's unbeaten 58 and Alex Carey's 43 being the notable contributions. Kagiso Rabada took four wickets for 59 runs.

South Africa's second innings stands at 213/2, with Markram's unbeaten century and Bavuma's half-century putting them in a strong position to achieve their first ICC title.

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