• Aiden Markam smashed a brilliant hundred on Day 1 of the first Test against West Indies.

  • The visitors picked 7 wickets for 79 runs in the final session.

Twitter reactions: West Indies fightback after Aiden Markaram’s century on Day 1 of Centurion Test
Aiden Markram hits a comeback ton (Image Source: Twitter)

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South African batter Aiden Markram made his comeback in grand style, notching up his sixth century on Day 1 of the first Test against West Indies at SuperSport Park in Centurion. Markram, playing his first Test since August 2022, put on a masterclass smashing 115 from 174 deliveries with the help of 18 boundaries.

The 28-year-old formed crucial partnerships with former skipper Dean Elgar and number three Tony de Zorzi before West Indies fought back and derailed the Proteas’ momentum by picking wickets at regular intervals.

Markram added 141 runs for the opening wicket with Elgar, who scored 71, including 11 boundaries. The right-handed batter then built an 80-run stand with De Zorzi for the first wicket. However, the tourists returned and destroyed the South African batting unit.

West Indies picked up seven wickets for 79 runs in the final session as the hosts finished the opening day at 314/8 in 82 overs. Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph was the chief architect, bagging a three-wicket haul for 60 runs in 16 overs.

‘I thoroughly enjoyed it’: Markram on his brilliant century

It was definitely a special hundred for Markram as he became teary-eyed after reaching the triple-figure mark. The Centurion-born admitted that he had thoughts about whether his Test career had ended.

“You do go through moments where you doubt yourself and wonder if you’ll ever get the opportunity again. I’ve always loved test match cricket and red-ball cricket and was grateful that the coach and the captain backed me and for the day to work out the way it did. I think my biggest emotion was that sense of relief, knowing that you can still compete in this format at this level. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were moments of luck here and there. But just grateful it worked out,” said Markram after the end of the day’s play.

“I suppose it might have helped a bit from a confidence point of view. I think the way the game is going now, you’d rather be positive and not reckless, but you still want to take the game on and express yourself as much as you can. And I think when you get a bit tentative, you can sort of dig an unnecessary hole for yourself,” added Markram.

Here is how Twitter reacted:

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AKSHAT GAUR
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