The Australia tour of South Africa: A walk to remember

#5 The rise of Aiden Markram and Morne Morkel swansong

Aiden Markram is getting better day by day.

The rise of Aiden Markram in the current series was remarkable. Questions were raised on the player’s caliber before the series. He was not counted as the best fit as a Test opener, the player rose to the occasion at a time when the team was struggling and proved the trust that was bestowed upon him by Faf du Plessis.

The scores of 143 in 340 balls in the second innings of the first match, 84 of 145 balls in the second innings of the third match and 152 of 216 balls in the first innings of the fourth Test came when the other batsmen were struggling. The player currently is the second fastest South African batsman to reach 1000 runs mark just behind the great Graeme Smith.

While one player rose to prominence, another player bid adieu to the beautiful game.

Morne Morkel played his last game for South Africa who had decided to retire after the conclusion of this series. Morne Morkel had been too hot to handle in the ongoing series. The Australian batsmen especially the openers were left searching for answers against him. He was bowling the spell of his life and was also the man of the match in the third Test where he registered the figures of 9/110.