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Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa as he claimed 5-51 and moved past Allan Donald to be at fourth spot on the Proteas' all-time wicket-takers list as the side bowled out Australia for 212 on the first day of the World Test Championship Final at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.
Australia entered the third session at 190/5 in 50 overs, but Rabada wrapped up the innings in the post-tea session in just 36 minutes. For Australia, Beau Webster was the highest run-getter with 72, while Steve Smith hit 66. Supporting Rabada in his pursuit were Marco Jansen’s 3-49, while Keshav Maharaj and Aiden Markram took a wicket each.
During the post-tea session, Alex Carey fell straightaway as his attempt to reverse-sweep off Keshav Maharaj resulted in his stumps being out for 23. Rabada then came into action against Pat Cummins, before having Webster edge to first slip. After Jansen castled Nathan Lyon through the gate, Rabada burst through Mitchell Starc’s defences to end Australia’s innings.
Earlier, Rabada and Jansen nailed their lengths from the word go to keep Australia on a tight leash. Rabada rattled Australia in the seventh over by Usman Khawaja and Cameron Green in the span of four balls. He came in from round the wicket to pick Khawaja's wicket as the batter fell for a 20-ball duck.
Rabada then picked up Cameron Green's wicket, and he got caught by a low-diving third slip, as the batter fell for four on his return to Tests after nearly a year. Lungi Ngidi, back in Test match action after 10 months, and Wiaan Mulder continued to be tight in their lines and lengths to keep Smith and Labuschagne on a tight leash.
Smith was looking set and he smashed some boundaries, but South Africa's bowling domination continued as Labuschagne poked at one from Jansen and nicked behind to the keeper. Just before lunch, Jansen produced another huge moment by having Travis Head strangled down leg to make it a really good first session of Test cricket for South Africa.
During the second session, Smith, who was set, smashed three quick boundaries off Rabada and Jansen. But Webster was all at sea, struggling to survive in tough conditions.
Webster had a couple of close shaves early in his innings. On just four, he was beaten on the outside edge and given out lbw to Marco Jansen, but ball tracking showed it was an umpire’s call on impact, so he survived. A few runs later, on eight, Kagiso Rabada pinned him plumb in front. It looked out to almost everyone watching, but South Africa hesitated, thinking there might have been an inside edge. They denied taking the review, and replays later confirmed it would’ve hit the stumps. It was a clear missed opportunity.
At the other end, Steve Smith looked more set. He brought up his fifty in 76 balls with a trademark slash through backwards point off Rabada. As the session continued, both Smith and the now-settled Webster started shifting the momentum, taking boundaries off Lungi Ngidi and Keshav Maharaj.
But just as things were looking up, Smith went chasing a wide one from Aiden Markram, trying to drive through the covers. Instead, he nicked it, and after a bit of a juggle, the first slip held on. It was a big breakthrough.
Webster, despite some nervous moments, went on to reach his second Test fifty in 69 balls and helped Australia put together a strong second session after a tough start to the day. However, things unravelled quickly after that. Alex Carey’s ill-advised reverse sweep sparked a collapse, and South Africa pounced, wrapping up the Australian innings in rapid time.
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