For every winner there has to be a loser. The feeling of ecstasy and then also the agony.
Aiden Markram knows very well about the latter. He was, of course, captain of the Proteas T20 team earlier this year when he could only look on as his team surrendered a match-winning position of 30 runs required off 30 balls in the T20 World Cup in Barbados.
Markram was crestfallen and required a few weeks away from the game to recover from it all. And yet it was unfolding before his eyes yet again.
Having done his level best by top-scoring with 89 in the first innings and then stroking an equally valuable 37 in pursuit of 148 for victory, which would secure the Proteas’ place in the World Test Championship final, he was watching it all unravel.
When Markram was dismissed the Proteas were 62/4 in search of a further 86 with six wickets still remaining. In a blink of an eye, this was transformed to 99/8 and the dream of heading to Lord’s next year was hanging by the barest of threads.
But this Test side is certainly cut from a different cloth to the white-ball teams as Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen combined to compile an unbroken 51-run partnership to take the Proteas home.
“Pretty relieved now. That was really tense. To get on the right side of it, means a lot. To make it to a final is really special. Relieved now, but full of emotions,” Markram admitted.
The opener was named Player of the Match for his contributions across both innings, but knows that leaving the job to be completed by two tail-enders was not part of the plan.
“I would have loved to take us home and be there at the end. Could not work out that way unfortunately. Different challenges each day, your options and gameplans have to change accordingly.
“Would have liked to be more clinical, but sometimes, you just take the win with open arms and move on to the next one. I will never be one for milestones, I know I am not going to break any records.
“Just about winning games for South Africa and contributing to wins. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. But when you can make an impact, it means a lot and all is worth it if you can get on the right side.”
Markram believed it was his experience playing at SuperSport Park for a decade that allowed him to score runs on a pitch that offered the bowlers something throughout the four days.
“It was challenging. Fortunate to have played a lot of cricket here. Never in as a batter, bit up and down, lots of lateral movement. Got to balance that with scoring runs as well, not just surviving. Fortunately, it worked out well this week,” he said.