School friend offered beer Markram ran over and gulped it down!
Lord’s: South Africa defeated defending champions Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final on Saturday, clinching their first ICC trophy in 27 years and their first major title at a World Cup level. While Pat Cummins and his teammates stood disheartened on the historic Lord’s ground, the South African players had just begun celebrating the long-awaited triumph.
One of the heroes of this iconic victory Aiden Markram who went from zero to super-hero in the final, didn’t disappoint a nearby friend who offered him a beer.
Markram was out for a duck in the first innings but in the second innings, he staged a remarkable comeback batting for 383 minutes, facing 207 balls, hitting 14 fours, and scoring 136 runs to anchor South Africa’s chase and seal the win. He was named Man of the Final, and with that, South Africa finally shed their long-standing ‘chokers’ tag.
While Markram was celebrating the win with captain Temba Bavuma, teammates, and his wife, a young man standing close to the field called out to him. Markram hesitated briefly he was in a euphoric mood with his squad. But the young man holding a camera was no stranger he was Markram’s old school friend. He showed Markram a glass of beer. That’s when Markram ran over, greeted him, gulped down the beer, and left everyone around smiling.
Later, when asked by reporters about the moment, Markram said with a laugh:
“Yeah, that was fun. He’s a longtime school friend. He kept calling me over to celebrate the win with him, and I told him — not right now, we’re in full celebration mode here. There is a chaos. But then he flashed me that glass of beer and I signaled to him — alright, I’m coming! That was actually my first beer of the night… and I decided there’d be many more after that.”