Proteas' Aiden Markram has everyone purring again ahead of Lord's return

Aiden Markram could easily be one of the most frustrating batters to watch in the world. 

There are few that cream the ball so effortlessly through the covers. Equally, savagely pull the short ball through mid-wicket. 

But yet Markram’s overall career numbers are middling, with this white-ball game especially not reflecting the ability and class that was so evident in the red-ball World Test Championship final here at Lord’s a couple of months ago. 

It's for this reason that when he puts on a show, like he did in the first ODI at Leeds with 86 from just 55 balls that allowed the Proteas to coast home with 175 balls to spare, it has everyone purring again whilst being a reminder why coach Shukri Conrad inks his name on the teamsheet. 

Markram’s assault on England seam bowler Sonny Baker was extraordinary with the debutant conceding 56 runs in his first four overs - 44 of it coming in boundaries. 

“I definitely didn't pre-plan anything,” Markram told Sky Sports in the post-match interview. “Naturally, never faced him before and there's some really good talk about him and his abilities, so really just trying to watch the ball. 

“You want to see the action first and stuff like that and I suppose when you can get a few away early and you can get ahead of him, then you try and do that.”

The hosts had come into the three-match ODI series fresh off The Hundred competition with the final being played just last Sunday. The Proteas, meanwhile, had a really tough ODI series in Australia before heading to England last week already to fine tune their preparation. 

Markram feels this played a greater role in the Proteas’ crushing opening victory. 

“Nowadays you just sort of jump from format to format, so the fact that we've come from a 50-over series into a 50-over series, I think also has helped us,” he said. 

“Naturally, the English side has just come straight off The Hundred, so there's a bit of a difference there and of course you take confidence from series wins and there were guys that put their hands up throughout that series and yeah, as an individual you bring that confidence into the series."

Although batting coach Ashwell Prince commented ahead of this England series that he’s not too concerned about the lack of hundreds from his batters, and places greater priority on their impact on the game instead, Markram has not scored an ODI century since the 2023 World Cup clash against India two years ago. 

He is certainly, though, becoming more consistent after striking 82 in the opener against Australia in Cairns also last month, but regretted that he succumbed with just 10 runs required for victory on Tuesday.

“I was trying to finish it quickly,” Markram said. “Overall though there are smarts that come with that for sure. You look at our batting line-up, we've got some younger guys that you encourage not to think and sort of just to crack on and maybe a couple of us older guys, if we are in on the day, sort of try and manage it around that. 

“So yeah, I was disappointed to get out there. I think as an opener, you don't get the opportunity to be not out and win games for your team often, so there was an opportunity missed there from my side.”