South Africa’s 27-Year ICC Title Drought Ends with World Test Championship Finals Win at Lord’s.
Finally, the Proteas end their losing streak and finally lift their maiden World Test Championship title against the mighty Aussies.
At one point, they had very little chance to qualify for the finals; from there, they advanced to the finals and ultimately won the final as well.
They have been quite unlucky in recent times, as they have lost in major ICC events at the semi-finals and final stages.
Match Details
The finals of the WTC were all set to be played at Lord’s. South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Australia First Innings
Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne opened the innings but soon lost their wickets.
Steven Smith and Beau Webster’s knocks in the first innings helped the Aussies to build up a good score.
They both completed their half-centuries, and with that, they made a total of 212 runs, and Kagiso Rabada took a haul of five wickets.
South Africa First Innings
Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton opened the innings for South Africa.
However, they weren’t able to stand strong in front of the bowling attack of Australia.
Only David Bedingham played a decent knock; the rest lost their wickets and made a total of only 138 runs.
Pat Cummins took a haul of five wickets and took six wickets in total.
Australia Second Innings
The South African bowling attack came prepared and started taking wickets from the outset.
Only Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc were able to add runs to the total.
With their knocks, they made a total of 207 runs, whereas Kagiso took four and Lungi took three wickets.
South Africa’s Second Innings
They need 282 runs to win the ultimate test. The opening batsmen, Aiden and Ryan, came in, and Ryan soon got out.
Aiden and Temba handled the innings and took SA closer to victory.
They both completed their half-centuries and kept on going. Pat broke their partnership by taking the wicket of Temba.
On the other hand, Aiden completed his century, and with his knock, SA chased down the total.
With this, they ended the long wait for an ICC trophy and lifted the WTC test mace.
The history-makers at the historic balcony 🤩
South Africa soak it all in at Lord’s 😍 #WTC25 pic.twitter.com/S90zl1n2L1
— ICC (@ICC) June 14, 2025