South Africa, at last, have managed to overcome their ICC knockout jinx by clinching their maiden ICC title win in nearly 27 years. The Proteas' opening batter Aiden Markram played an instrumental role in propelling the Rainbow Nation on the path of glory on the back of his resilient match-winning knock of 136. With the WTC Final coming to an end, Markram opened up about how South Africa's painful T20 World Cup Final defeat last year inspired him to strive for glory. 

Being the captain of the South African side at that time, South Africa came agonizingly close to clinching their maiden T20 World Cup title, but just threw it away in the dying moments of the run chase to fall seven runs short. A year later, the 30-year-old ensured that there was no stone left unturned. 

See also: Watch: South Africa lifts Test mace after winning WTC Final 2025

Markram unravels the key motivating factor behind his match-winning knock

While speaking about his heroic knock during the post-match presentation, Markram took the clock back to 2024 and reflected on how hopeless he and his entire team felt when they crashed out of the T20 World Cup final against India. Knowing that the team was within touching distance of creating glory, and to meet such a disappointing end was certainly a tough pill for the SA skipper to swallow. 

But an inner voice from within gave him the faintest of encouragements, making him feel that it was probably not a great idea to sit in one place and sulk your life away over a defeat.

"I thought a lot about the T20 World Cup last night and how hopeless I felt sitting on the side after getting out. I was like, I don't want to sit there again. So, this gave me a bit of motivation to make sure I stayed at the crease, if I could. But never once thought about the achievements and what would come with it. It was always about just trying to get the job done and trying to win."

Markram responded with force and resilience when South Africa took the field in the second innings. The team, after being annihilated for 138 in the first innings, had a lot of catching up to do against a quality pace attack from Australia. Markram soaked in a lot of pressure early doors and forged a defiant 147-run stand to roll back the Australian aggression.

Markram offered the bulk of the resistance and produced one of the most epic innings of the ICC finals, scoring 136 off 207 to power his side to a five-wicket win. While doing so, Markram is now the third batter to have a century against Australia in an ICC final, after Clive Llyod and Aravinda de Silva.