Markram makes merry as Proteas close in on World Cup qualification

It’s a reflection of Aiden Markram’s weirdly modest return in the ODI format that the 175 he scored in Sunday’s final ODI against the Netherlands equated to more than 10% of all the runs he has made in the format since making his debut in 2017.

Markram, playing in his 50th ODI, finally notched up a first 100 in a format that his talent and technique seem ideally suited for. Over the course of his career, he has struggled with the tempo of his innings. Markram has been dismissed 19 times for scores between 20 and 49, an indication of how and when he wants to accelerate he finds himself getting out.

It is not something that affects his T20 game where Markram averages over 40 at a strike rate of 150, but clearly the extended time available to him in the 50-over format has messed with his head.

So Sunday would have been enjoyable for him, especially since the team were not in the best position halfway through the innings.

Asked to bat by the Netherlands, the Proteas lost their two openers inside the power play, both dismissals falling in the category of “soft”.

Markram added 62 runs for the third wicket with Rassie van der Dussen and then 51 for the fourth wicket with Heinrich Klaasen, but at 145/4 in the 26th over, the Dutch were sniffing an opening.

Van der Dussen must be grateful this season has ended. Sunday was the fourth time in the past month he’s been out hooking or pulling, though on this occasion it was just an awfully timed stroke against a long-hop from a spinner rather than the ferocity of a bouncer from a West Indies quick.

It might be premature to talk of playing himself out of the World Cup — he did make a 100 against England in January — but Van der Dussen will be concerned about the limp manner he is ending a season in which he has been dropped from the Test team and has also been deemed surplus to requirements in the T20 side.

Meanwhile, the opposite holds true for Markram, who returned to the Test team, scored a 100 against West Indies and was named captain of the T20 group. His innings on Sunday was beautifully balanced both from the perspective of technique and how he steadied the innings in partnership with David Miller.

SA had already been accelerating the scoring rate during the third and fourth wicket partnerships, but this new bolder approach saw them increase that rate even more despite four of the main batters already being back in the changeroom halfway through the innings.

Markram, after taking 47 balls for his first 50, faced 39 more deliveries to get to 100 and then a further 29 to reach 150. He drove powerfully and with typical elegance, while the short ball, which the Dutch offered up often, was disdainfully dispatched.

He looked on course to eclipse Gary Kirsten’s record high score for a Proteas batter — 188 against the UAE at the 1996 World Cup — but weariness overcame him and he picked out Tom Cooper at long-on after scoring 175.

Markram and Miller shared a partnership of 199, with the latter falling nine runs short of a century.

Nevertheless, they were responsible for ensuring that what had looked at one stage like being a target of less than 300 was in fact substantially more and out of the reach of the Dutch.

Sisanda Magala picked up a maiden ODI five-wicket haul as the Proteas ran away winners by 146 runs. With both wins against the Dutch being comprehensive, the Proteas’ net run rate on the Super League log received a significant boost and gives them an important advantage over Ireland.

The Irish will need to beat Bangladesh in all three ODIs they play against them next month — and do so by big margins to threaten the Proteas’ chances of securing the final automatic qualifying spot for the World Cup, which they hold.