Aiden Markram completed his stint in England with a half-century on Sunday for Hampshire before returning home to South Africa to prepare for the World Cup.

The 23-year-old made the bold decision to join up with England county side Hampshire, plying his trade in both the County Championship, as well as the Royal London One-Day Cup.

His record was highly impressive. In the four-day competition he played two matches and scored one half-century, a 63 against Essex in Southampton. This was a warm-up for what was to follow, the ideal competition to allow him to assess the England conditions ahead for the World Cup.

Markram went on a dominant run for Hampshire and signed off as the tournament’s second-highest scorer with 466 runs at an average of 58.25 and a strike rate 101.96. His first three games can be filed as a test run, with Markram scoring 45, 24 and 31. He managed good starts, but failed to kick on and convert his starts to bigger totals, similar to his ODIs for the Proteas.

He showed maturity and control scoring 88 and taking 3-39 against Middlesex in a solid all-round performance. Scores of 29 and 15 followed that amounted to slight blips in form, but he erased that by upping his game in the last three matches.

He scored 88, 130 and 61 to sign off his tour, taking the valuable experience home with him.

Watch Markram score 130 against Sussex: 

The experience he gained at Hampshire’s home ground in Southampton will do him good if he is selected to play India at the Rose Bowl during the 2019 World Cup.

Scorecard 

Photo: Dave Vokes Photography/Twitter
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