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The final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 is underway between Australia and South Africa, marking the first time that Team India has failed to reach the summit clash.

India had played in both previous WTC finals but fell short on both occasions—first to New Zealand, then to Australia.

Despite featuring in those high-stakes matches, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli never managed to score a century in a WTC final. Now retired from Test cricket, that milestone is officially out of reach for both.

On the other hand, Aiden Markram, in his debut WTC final, has done what the Indian stalwarts couldn’t—scoring a brilliant century under pressure.

On Day 3, South Africa tightened its grip on the match, thanks to a commanding partnership between Markram and captain Temba Bavuma. Markram remained unbeaten on 102, while Bavuma supported him with a solid 65 not out. Their unbeaten stand took South Africa to 213 for 2 by stumps.

Now, South Africa needs just 69 more runs with 8 wickets in hand to clinch their maiden WTC title. Mitchell Starc was the only successful bowler for Australia, claiming both wickets, as the rest of the attack struggled. With momentum on their side, South Africa stands on the verge of a historic win, while Australia faces an uphill battle.

Aiden Markram etched his name into the record books by becoming only the ninth batter in history to score both a duck and a century in the same Test match at Lord’s.

He is also just the third player since 1980 to achieve this unusual feat, following in the footsteps of Michael Vaughan (vs India, 2002) and Misbah-ul-Haq (vs England, 2016).