South African captain Temba Bavuma showered praise on Aiden Markram and Kagiso Rabada after they claimed a five-wicket win against Australia in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s on Saturday. While Rabada was brilliant in both innings, Markram played a match-winning knock in the second essay while chasing 282.

Rabada bagged a five-wicket haul in the first innings, returning with impressive figures of 5-51. Furthermore, the South African pack leader bagged 4-59 in the second innings and thus played a massive role in Proteas’ win.

Markram, on the other hand, scored a brilliant knock of 136 runs in the second innings after he was dismissed for a duck in the first dig.

Temba Bavuma said in the post-match presentation, “KG is a massive player, couple of days ago, I went to the ICC Hall of Fame in Leeds, I think in a couple of years KG will be one of those guys. He came into the game with controversy behind him. He was motivated to do what he needed to do and like a champion he came and did what he did.”

Speaking on Aiden Markram, Bavuma said, “Unbelievable, a couple of people were asking why Aiden was in the team. Stats, yes are important but character is something we look at and a guy like Aiden, he carries all those traits. We knew second innings, we are gonna have to come out and play and he led it in like true Aiden fashion. Another massive player for us.”

Bavuma also led from the front, returning with scores of 36 and 66. The South African captain pulled his hamstring when he was on six in the second innings but showed all the gumption to score valuable 66 runs.

With this win, South Africa ended their 27-year long wait for a major ICC title.