South Africa finally brought an end to their 27-year ICC trophy drought when they defeated Australia by five wickets in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord's on Saturday. The Proteas gave a brilliant all-round performance to clinch their first major international title since 1998 and defeated the reigning WTC champions in the process.
Aiden Markram, Kagiso Rabada and skipper Temba Bavuma were the three top performers for the Proteas in the all-important final. Rabada took a total of nine scalps during the match and played a major role in restricting the Aussies to low totals in both the innings.
On the other hand, both Markram and Bavuma played crucial knocks of 136 and 66 respectively in South Africa's run-chase of 282 and were the catalysts to their victory. This win also saw the Proteas extend their unbeaten streak in red-ball cricket to nine games. They haven't lost a single game in their previous four Test series and last recorded a loss in the format in February, 2024 against New Zealand.
After the defeat in the WTC final, Australia skipper Pat Cummins praised South Africa for winning the match fair and square and added that they deserved to become champions.
“In terms of, you know, the way they made it, they made it fair and square - everyone has a slightly different, you know, route to make the final, but they absolutely deserve to make the final and showed why, you know, I think they're very deserving champions,” Cummins told reporters.
Cummins credited Bavuma for South Africa's victory
Cummins also heaped praise on Bavuma, who didn't leave the field despite his hamstring injury and ended up playing a massive role in South Africa's victory at the iconic stadium.
“Yeah, I mean, first of all how he played, I thought he's fantastic is obviously gave that, you know, half a chance early and then didn't really give us another look until he got out," Cummins stated.
“He had a big partnership, so I thought he played really well. In terms of leading, it's always pretty hard unless you're kind of playing underneath someone to judge them, I think, so I don't know, but from the outside, he looked good,” he added.
Australia will now be embarking on a tour to the Caribbean and will be facing the West Indies in a three-match Test series and five-match T20I series. The gruelling tour will be commencing from June 25.