Markram Uther takes glory to end South Africa's heartbreaking history

South Africa 138 (Bedingham 45, Cummins 6-28) and 282 for 5 (Markram 146, Bavuma 66, Starc 3-66) beat Australia 212 (Webster 72, Smith 66, Rabada 5-51) and 207 (Starc 58, Carey 43, Rabada 4-59, Ngidi 3-38) for five wickets.

At 12.45pm on a sunny Saturday at Lord's, South Africa secured the most important moment in their cricketing history by winning the World Test Championship title. It wasn't nerve-wracking - how could it be? - but this time there was no pain at the end. Aiden Markram took them to the brink with a magnificent innings of 136, which will be considered the country's most important innings in Tests, with Kyle Vereen kicking the winning runs through the covers.

The 1998 ICC knockout, which had various names and caveats, was not the only reference point for South Africa's global success. After so many near misses, they had a crowning achievement. It would be a hugely popular victory, as underdog stories often are, and part of the wider narrative surrounding the health of Test cricket beyond the Big Three.

The success Australia have enjoyed over the years will be a painful experience as they managed to take a first-innings innings of 74 that stretched into three figures and collapsed to 73 for 7 on the second evening. The lower order repaired some of the damage and the bowlers tried their best, but for once they were second-best.

Resuming at 213 for 2 with 69 more runs to win and eight wickets in hand would not normally have been a scene of great uncertainty, but this was no ordinary event. The first run of the day, Temba Bavuma's knock at cover, had the crowd cheering loudly for South Africa - as it had throughout the game.

Aiden Markram keeps one away during his brilliant century•AFP/Getty Images

Bavuma struggled with hamstring strain early in his innings, and left the team management thinking of retiring him at tea yesterday, but instead he put on a match-deciding 147-run partnership with Markram.

It was no fairy tale ending for Bavuma to be there when a superb lifting delivery from Pat Cummins opened the door for Australia to score the winning run. The celebrations certainly indicated that they still believed - although no one needed to be reminded of South Africa's history - and the excitement was palpable as runs were hard to come by.

Markram was able to ease the pressure with occasional boundaries, including a square drive and a more authoritative pull from Cummins' ball after being beaten on the drive.

But Australia made every run they could muster. Mitchell Starc continued his remarkable game with a superb delivery to dismiss Tristan Stubbs, who still needed 41, which probably felt like 141 to any South African.

Australia's frustrations saw them burn three reviews - two for lbws that weren't particularly close and another for gloves on the leg side before falling to Starc off Stubbs - and ironically, with the scores level, Vernon tried to scoop Starc which was not given out.

David Bedingham's on-drive off Cummins brought the need down to 20 and the chants from the crowd rose again.

Australia managed to get their short burst with the second new ball but Josh Hazlewood's first delivery was pinged off his pads by Markram and the next one took the countdown to single figures for three runs.

Markram was again aiming for the leg side when he lifted midwicket, but this time he couldn't stop South Africa. As he started to walk, several Australian players congratulated him. They knew they had lost to a great innings.