South Africa’s World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final-winning captain Temba Bavuma tasted his first defeat as Test captain as Australia won the series opener in Durban by a comfortable margin of 214 runs. Bavuma had won 11 out of 12 Tests he had played before the series whereas one ended in a draw. But, in Durban, the Proteas batting lineup faltered and let Australia dictate terms. Aiden Markram’s patient knock wasn’t enough as Josh Hazlewood ran riot with a six-wicket haul to bowl out hosts for 206 in the second session of Day 5.
Hazlewood wreaks havoc, Markram runs out of partners
After the end of Day 4's play, South Africa were 102/4 with Markram and Wiaan Mulder in the middle. Early into Day 5, Markram reached his half-century from 129 deliveries. The fifth-wicket partnership continued to grow, giving South Africa some home. With the old ball, Hazlewood broke the partnership with Mulder's wicket. He scored 29 runs from 110 balls in the 69-run partnership. Then Matt Renshaw was given the ball and he delivered with wicketkeeper-batter Kyle Verreynne's wicket. Verreynne went for the cut shot but ended up getting caught at first slip by Steve Smith who took a stunner. Earlier, on Day 4, Renshaw made skipper Bavuma his maiden Test wicket.
Marco Jansen joined Markram in the middle. At the end of first session, South Africa were 166/6. Jansen took the attacking approach against Nic Maddinson, hitting a six and a four. But, Australia were just biding time before the new ball was available. After the 81st over, the second new ball was taken. In his second over with the second new ball, Hazlewood knocked over Jansen. The ball went through Jansen's forward defense and crashed into the middle stump. He departed for a 54-ball 35. In the same over, he got the wicket of Simon Harmer. The extra bounce got the better of Harmer as the ball hit the top of the glove before Alex Carey took a simple catch. Hazlewood completed his fifer.
Mitchell Starc joined the party by ending Markram's resistance. There was a faint inside edge off Markram's bat. The ball hit him on the pad and then Carey took a clean catch. He departed after scoring 75 runs from 237 deliveries including 10 fours. In the next over, Hazlewood wrapped up the proceedings with Anrich Nortje's wicket. South Africa were bowled out for 206 in 86.5 overs, losing the match by 214 runs. Having lost four wickets on Day 4, South Africa were going for a draw but they couldn’t string a few big partnerships to survive Day 5.
Bavuma rues Proteas batters not converting starts
For Australia, Renshaw turned out to be their saviour with a 190-run knock in the first innings. Bavuma believes one of their batters should have gone on to play a big knock.
“I think probably the obvious one is guys getting in and going big. I think that was the biggest difference. If you look at our first innings, they had Matt Renshaw who went to get a big, big hundred for them and put them in a very competitive score. We had a number of guys who got in, but unfortunately weren't able to get us into strong competitive positions,” Bavuma said in the post-match presentation.
Bavuma also aims to learn from their mistakes and see where Australia were better than them.
“And I think from a bowling front, you've got to admire the way that it seems as if they're quite proactive about their plans, different plans, different fields, and just kind of staying in there. So, like I said, we'll have the conversations, but we'll definitely learn from how they went about their business,” he added.
South Africa slip one place
After the Durban defeat, South Africa’s win percentage has fallen to 60. They have slipped from second to third position in WTC 2025-27 standings. New Zealand moved up to the second spot whereas Australia maintained their dominance at the top with ninth win from 11 Tests in the ongoing cycle.
Even if South Africa win the next Test at St George's Park, Gqeberha, their win percentage will rise to 66.66. They will rise to the second spot if they win the Cape Town Test and win the series 2-1. In that case, their win percentage will be 71.42, slightly ahead of Australia’s 69.23.
However, the above scenario doesn’t include the deductions due to slow over rate.
| Pos | Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Penalty Points | Total Points | PCT (%) |
| 1 | Australia | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 108 | 81.82 |
| 2 | New Zealand | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 52 | 72.22 |
| 3 | South Africa | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 60.00 |
| 4 | Bangladesh | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 55.56 |
| 5 | India | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 68 | 51.52 |
| 6 | England | 17 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 14 | 86 | 42.16 |
| 7 | Sri Lanka | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 33.33 |
| 8 | West Indies | 12 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 30 | 20.83 |
| 9 | Pakistan | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 13.33 |
South Africa's loss is a gain for India and New Zealand. India will take on New Zealand in a two-Test series next month.
Hazlewood's rare feat
Hazlewood registered the second-best bowling figures by an Australian in fourth innings of a Test in South Africa. The record belongs to left-arm spinner Jack Saunders, who took seven wickets for 34 runs in Johannesburg Test in October 1902. Hazlewood is the only pacer to achieve the feat. The other Australian spinner to take a six-fer in fourth innings of a Test in South Africa is Shane Warne. The legendary leg-spinner had taken six wickets for 86 runs against South Africa in Durban Test in March 2006.
With six wickets for 49 runs, Hazlewood also became Australia's eighth-highest wicket-taker in Tests. He surpass former pacer Brett Lee who has 310 wickets from 76 Tests. After 79 Tests, Hazlewood has 311 wickets. In the next Test, he will need three more wickets to go past Mitchell Johnson. The former left-arm pacer has 313 wickets from 73 Tests.