LONDON (AP) — Aiden Markram has been dropped twice by South Africa in his test career.
It's his own fault.
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South Africa's Aiden Markram bowls a delivery on day three of the World Test Championship final between South Africa and Australia at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
South Africa's Aiden Markram plays a shot on day three of the World Test Championship final between South Africa and Australia at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
South Africa's Aiden Markram, right, celebrates with batting partner Temba Bavuma after scoring a century on day three of the World Test Championship final between South Africa and Australia at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Australia's wicketkeeper Alex Carey, right, reacts as South Africa's Aiden Markram plays a shot on day three of the World Test Championship final between South Africa and Australia at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
South Africa's Aiden Markram celebrates after scoring a century on day three of the World Test Championship final between South Africa and Australia at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Markram set such a superlative standard out of the gate — three centuries and two 90s in his first six months — that when the runs stopped raining, he was labelled a flash in the pan.
South Africa's white-ball captain was eventually recalled to the red-ball side by new coach Shukri Conrad at the start of 2023 and responded with his first century in two years against the West Indies and 106 against India in Cape Town to end that year.
Markram then went 16 innings and counting without a hundred, including a duck when he chopped on against Australia pacer Mitchell Starc on Wednesday, the opening day of the World Test Championship final at Lord's.
On Friday, South Africa needed someone to hang tough and score big when it started a daunting chase of 282 to win the final, and Markram responded on a flat, slow pitch with an unbeaten 102. He and captain Temba Bavuma, who nursed a hamstring injury to be on 65, produced an unbroken stand of 143
Markram teared up when he reached his eighth test hundred in the day's second-to-last over. His celebrations were muted, knowing the job was not quite done. He and Bavuma have South Africa 69 runs from a momentous win.
“We certainly know he is someone for the big occasion, of that there is no doubt,” South Africa batting coach Ashwell Prince said.
"He has done some technical work but not a lot. In the last little while he has had a tendency to push his hands away from his body and cut across the ball but it was not a big fix and as soon as he saw a few videos, it was simple.
“Albeit in a losing cause at Newlands, on a difficult pitch, he played an unbelievable innings against India last year and scored a ton on that surface — so we know what he is capable of.”
Despite the first-innings duck, Markram remained confident in his technique after scoring five fifties in 13 innings at the Indian Premier League. They weren't in the same format but they put him in a good headspace for the WTC final.
He's in the running for the player of the final. When Bavuma turned to Markram's part-time off-spin — three wickets in 45 previous tests — he had an outsized impact on the match.
In the first innings, he bagged Steve Smith and broke Australia's biggest partnership, and in the second innings he ended Australia's seemingly never-ending batting by dismissing last man Josh Hazlewood.
Moments later, he had his own bat in hand to open South Africa's chase, and was closing in on finishing Australia's reign as the WTC champion.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
South Africa's Aiden Markram bowls a delivery on day three of the World Test Championship final between South Africa and Australia at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
South Africa's Aiden Markram plays a shot on day three of the World Test Championship final between South Africa and Australia at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
South Africa's Aiden Markram, right, celebrates with batting partner Temba Bavuma after scoring a century on day three of the World Test Championship final between South Africa and Australia at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Australia's wicketkeeper Alex Carey, right, reacts as South Africa's Aiden Markram plays a shot on day three of the World Test Championship final between South Africa and Australia at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
South Africa's Aiden Markram celebrates after scoring a century on day three of the World Test Championship final between South Africa and Australia at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
MIAMI (AP) — The Florida Panthers arrived in Ferraris, cigars lit, dressed in all-white “Miami Vice” attire — and, in true South Florida fashion, fashionably late.
The New York Rangers followed suit, stepping into loanDepot Park in their own whites and sunglasses.
With that, the 2026 Winter Classic was underway in warm, humid Miami.
At loanDepot Park, home of Major League Baseball's Miami Marlins, an expected sold-out crowd — with celebrity attendees that included former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady — had already begun filling the streets hours before the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers were set to host the Rangers in the first outdoor game to take place in Florida.
The retractable roof on the ballpark — which had been shut while air conditioning was piped in to help ice builders create a playing surface suitable for hockey — opened just before puck drop, revealing a clear dark sky with the Miami skyline hovering behind the ballpark. Artificial snow cascaded into the stands, accompanied by pyrotechnics and a performance by Puerto Rican artist Luis Fonsi.
“They said it couldn't be done,” the public address announcer shouted in front of a roaring crowd. “They said it shouldn't be done. But tonight, history and modern science meet here in the Sunshine State.”
After a ceremonial puck drop by Hall of Famer Roberto Luongo, the game was on.
“I would have never thought that I would play in a Winter Classic in Miami and be a part of this cool experience," said Florida center Anton Lundell, wearing a baby pink shirt and pastel blue handkerchief to accent his all-white suit. “Obviously we still have the game left, but everything building up to this game has been awesome. It's been very unique and an experience we're all going to remember for the rest of our lives.”
Though nowhere near as chilly as Winter Classics of years past, temperatures in Miami hovered around 60 degrees Fahrenheit just an hour before puck drop, and lows were expected to be in the low 40s overnight.
For the Rangers, forward Will Cuylie said the plan was for a day-at-the-beach look, but bathing suits were a non-starter. Not professional enough, he added.
“We thought the all-white was a good solution for that,” he said.
Florida coach Paul Maurice arrived in what he jokingly deemed an “appropriate” mode of transportation.
“I was happily on the bus,” Maurice said ahead of Friday's game.
But on his ride into the arena, Maurice took in his surroundings: the palm tree monikers lining the outside of the ballpark and the thousands of fans clad in Rangers and Panthers gear. In past decades, it would have been hard to imagine such a scene in South Florida, where the success of the back-to-back defending champion Panthers has helped exponentially grow the popularity of hockey.
“I took about 10 minutes just to think about that idea,” Maurice said. "How much different the game was 30 years ago, 20 years ago that you’re in Miami, you've got your whole team getting in the Ferraris. I didn't really think there would be that many fans outside. It was like a version of our parade.
“It is an awesome spectacle. The game itself — not just in Florida — but the pure hockey game, for me, is better than it’s ever been.”
For Panthers general manager and hockey operations president Bill Zito, the game — one that’s filled with “wonderment,” he said — represented a full-circle moment. His career path started in baseball, and on Friday, his team was playing on a baseball field.
Zito was a batboy for the Milwaukee Brewers in the early 1980s and still credits general manager Harry Dalton for what became the start of a career that saw him become an agent and then one of the top executives in the game.
“The lessons I learned from that experience impact me, and really then via me, our organization on a daily basis,” Zito said. “I’m not here today if I hadn’t had that good fortune.”
That said, his baseball ways were long ago. When he first arrived at loanDepot Park to see the setup, he asked where the locker rooms were. Baseball doesn’t use that term.
“I forgot,” Zito said. “It’s a clubhouse.”
AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds contributed.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
New York Rangers, including left wing Brett Berard, center, warm up with a soccer ball ahead of the start of the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game at loanDepot Park, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Fans watch as Florida Panthers players arrive before the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game between the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk arrives for the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game between the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers at loanDepot Park, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Fans watch as Florida Panthers players arrive before the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game between the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Florida Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling arrives for the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game between the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
New York Rangers Taylor Raddysh enjoys family skate time after practice for the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
New York Rangers players gather for a team picture during practice for the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
