Aiden Markram's magnificent century guided South Africa to a five-wicket win over Australia in the World Test Championship final at Lord's cricket ground in London on Saturday as the Proteas finally ended their decades-long wait for a major global cricket trophy.

South Africa, set 282 to win, finished on 282-5 before lunch on the fourth day, with opening batsman Markram out for 136 when his side were just six runs shy of victory.

In 18 previous attempts in the one-day international and T20 World Cups, South Africa had only reached one solitary final.

That was in last year's T20 World Cup in Barbados, when they lost to India despite needing just 30 runs from their last 30 balls, with six wickets standing.

But they held their nerve on Saturday as they resumed on 213-2, with Markram having reached three figures on Friday. (AFP)