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LAHORE: South Africa’s stand-in captain Aiden Markram reached a major career milestone on Monday, surpassing 3,000 runs in Test cricket during the opening Test against Pakistan at the Gaddafi Stadium.
Markram, who needed just seven runs to achieve the landmark, brought it up early in his innings as South Africa began their reply to Pakistan’s first-innings total of 378.
The 31-year-old reached the milestone in his 47th Test appearance, becoming the 18th South African batter to do so.
Since making his debut in 2017, Markram has been one of South Africa’s most consistent performers in red-ball cricket, boasting eight centuries and 13 half-centuries to his name.
Among South African greats, Jacques Kallis remains the country’s all-time leading run-scorer with a staggering 13,206 runs in 165 Tests, the only South African to cross the 10,000-run mark.
He is followed by Hashim Amla (9,282 runs in 124 matches) and former skipper Graeme Smith (9,253 runs in 116 matches).
At the time of filing this report, South Africa were 38 without loss in ten overs, with Markram and Ryan Rickelton steady at the crease.
The visitors trail by 340 runs after bowling out Pakistan for 378 earlier in the day, courtesy of a superb six-wicket haul from left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy.
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