Cricket South Africa announces playing XI for WTC final against Australia

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma has announced their playing XI for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, which is scheduled to start from June 11 at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground in England. This will be the first time that Proteas will be seen featuring in the finale.

Ryan Rickelton will be seen headlining the batting order, he is South Africa’s top scorer in the WTC 2023/25 cycle, alongside Bavuma, not too far behind in the scoring charts, Aiden Markram, and Tristan Stubbs.

The team also stuck with Wiaan Mulder at No.3 after he was used there for the first time during South Africa's most recent Test against Pakistan.

"Mulder is quite young in that position. But I think having played with Mulder, having seen him and the way he has grown in the last two years within the red-ball format,” Bavuma said.

“It's about giving him a lot more confidence, keep backing him and just allowing him to do what he does best.

"He has an opportunity in a pressure situation, but I think he can take comfort from the fact that the guys are backing him. We just want him to play his game."

While Keshav Maharaj is the solitary full-time spinner, the bowling lineup also features Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, alongside Lungi Ngidi.

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While the Proteas squad also featured Dane Paterson, who had been in fine form during their last Test series against Pakistan, Bavuma explained the reasoning behind opting for Ngidi.

"Probably one of the tougher decisions that has been made. We see what Dane Paterson did for us to the end of last season," Bavuma added.

“But it was more from a tactical point of view. Probably a little bit more pace from Lungi, guess he's a bit taller as well.

"Lungi also has a better record, not taking away anything from Patto. He (Ngidi) has the experience, he's played here before, not that Patto hasn't.

"But I think he (Ngidi) will complement that bowling attack a little more. We have a guy like Mulder, who can give us something similar like Patto.

"It was probably one of the difficult decision we had to make."

South Africa playing XI: Temba Bavuma (c), Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verrynne, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi.