He reached his half-century in 54 balls.
South Africa’s Aiden Markram proved his case as an all-format opener with a well-made 82 runs in the first ODI against Australia in Cairns on Tuesday.
This was for the first time since 2021 that Markram opened for South Africa in ODIs, and he did so in some fashion. Markram got to his half-century off 54 balls, hitting six fours. He would go onto hit three more boundaries before being dismissed by Ben Dwarshuis in the 24th over. He was dismissed for 81 runs from 82 balls.
South Africa were off to a confident start, with Markram and Ryan Rickelton (33) forging 92 runs from 101 balls for the first wicket. The 30-year-old had got to his half-century in the 16th over, one over before the Proteas lost Rickelton.
AUSA-W
–
INDA-W
–
KNK
164/6
BVB
214/6
AMR
–
VSS
–
SKA
–
SLK
–
ABF
–
TKR
–
EDR
–
PD
–
ODW
–
NDS
–
SDSW
73/3
EDRW
–
NDSW
–
CDQW
–
KHTC
117/8
MRSC
142/4
Masroor Sports Club beat 1.Kieler HTC by 25 runs
THCC
56/10
KSV
59/8
KSV Kings beat THCC ROT-GELB Hamburg by 2 wickets
MTV
–
MRSC
42/2
KSV
–
KHTC
–
THCC
–
MTV
–
HTBC
–
SCE
–
HTBC
–
VFB
–
SCE
–
SGFD
–
VFB
–
BRCC
–
BRCC
–
SGFD
–
MID
–
KENT
110/1
LAN
–
DURH
–
LEI
–
DER
–
HAM
–
NOT
–
ESS
–
GLAM
–
NED-W
–
ITA-W
–
IRE-W
–
GER-W
–
BAN
–
IND
–
Match Called off
MUR
–
NWW
–
LLG
–
NK
–
KZK
–
NCMI
–
SBSCC
–
CEC-A
–
PCR
–
GUJCC
–
RTZ
–
KUMS
–
GBM
–
SML
133/7
MGD
–
HBT
–
GBM
–
MYW
–
HBT
–
BNB
–
ROS
–
RNC
4/0
MUT
–
YSG
–
AUS
–
SA
296/8
TRR
–
MAO
–
WEF
–
SOB
–
LOS
–
NOS
–
TRW-W
–
MOW-W
–
WFW-W
–
SBW-W
–
LSW-W
–
NOS-W
–
AS-A
137/4
PSA
136/9
Adelaide Strikers Academy beat Perth Scorchers Academy by 6 wickets
CHK
206/5
PS
137/8
Chicago Kingsmen beat Pakistan Shaheens by 69 runs
NEP
180/7
HHA
114/10
Nepal beat Hobart Hurricanes Academy by 66 runs
NTS
16/1
BANA
172/4
CHK
–
ACOM
–
MS-A
–
PSA
–
NEP
–
MR-A
–
PS
–
AS-A
–
KASS
1/1
KARS
201/3
MEMA
–
LUF
–
NOSK
–
GOLS
–
LUF
–
KASS
–
Despite losing his opening partner at the other end, Markram continued to ensure that the scoreboard kept ticking, as South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma joined him at No.3.
The Centurion-born cricketer kept rotating the strike, while also finding boundaries at regular intervals. However, Markram missed out on what would have been a fine century, as he was edged and caught by wicketkeeper Josh Inglis off Dwarshuis’ delivery.
At the time of writing this report, the Proteas were 232/5 in 41 overs, with Wiaan Mulder (2*) having joined Temba Bavuma in the middle.
In June this year, the right-handed batter scored a title-winning century for South Africa in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at Lord’s.
This was also while opening the batting. Markram was dismissed for a six-ball duck in the first innings, but fought back in the second innings with a knock of 136 runs from 207 balls. His century helped the Temba Bavuma-led side to chase down a target of 282 with five wickets to spare, and hand South Africa their first ICC trophy in 27 years.
Markram has played a majority of his Test career as an opener, having done so in 42 out of the 46 Tests he has played. He has scored 2884 runs at an average of 38.45, and this includes 13 fifties and eight centuries. As far as ODIs are concerned, he has opened in just 19 ODIs and has scored 642 runs at an average of 37.76. This includes three fifties, but no centuries.
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When it comes to T20Is, Markram has opened in just 10 matches, having scored 236 runs at a strike-rate of 167.37. Like in ODIs, he hasn’t scored a century in T20Is while opening the innings, but has registered three fifties.
Apart from Markram, currently only England’s Ben Duckett and South Africa’s Ryan Rickelton are all-format openers. As an opener, Duckett has scored 2770 runs from 35 Tests, 781 runs from 14 ODIs, and 221 runs from nine T20Is.
Rickelton, on the other hand, has opened for South Africa in just two Tests, having scored 281 runs. This includes a knock of 259 in the second Test against Pakistan earlier this year. He has opened in nine of the 10 ODIs he has played, and has scored 354 runs with a century to his name. And in 13 T20Is as an opener, Rickelton has aggregated 318 runs at a mediocre strike-rate of 135.31.
