‘There’s a lot of relief’ - Aiden Markram reflects on South Africa’s first win against Australia in ongoing ODI series

After losing 3-0 in the T20I series, South Africa suffered back-to-back defeats in the first two ODIs as well. Despite many of the star cricketers missing, Australia have been a force to reckon with and decimated South Africa until the third ODI in Potchefstroom. In the match, the Proteas batters played some remarkable cricket, hitting 338 runs on board in 50 overs.

Skipper Aiden Markram hit 102* while Quinton de Kock smashed 82 runs. Towards the fag end of the innings, Marco Jansen hit 32* runs off just 16 deliveries and with that, South Africa were in the driver’s seat at the halfway mark. They continued with the same momentum with the ball as Gerald Coetzee picked up four wickets and Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj picked up two each. Courtesy of their phenomenal performances, South Africa won the match by 111 runs and made a solid comeback in the series.

Meanwhile, after the win, Proteas skipper Markram stated that he was relieved to finally break the losing streak. He mentioned that the boys have shown tremendous character in the tough times and this win will give them some much-needed momentum.

“There’s a lot of relief. We pride ourselves on being a competitive nation,” Markram said after Tuesday’s ODI. When you’re struggling, it affects the human and the cricketer. It’s not nice letting the people of our country down. What also is a major plus for us is that it’s good to know that we’ve got the character to turn it around in a must-win game,” Markram was quoted as saying by The South African.

“It’s huge for us. You have the opportunity to inspire people. If we’re in a position to do that, it means a lot. Look at the Boks, it’s amazing and motivating what they’ve been able to achieve. If we can make lives a bit better, it makes everything we do worth it,” said Markram.

Meanwhile, the fourth and fifth ODI of the series will be played on September 15 and 17 respectively.