South Africa defeated Australia by five wickets in the World Test Championship (WTC) final held at Lord's. With this victory, they finally ended their 27-year wait for an ICC title and won the WTC mace. The Proteas last won a major international trophy back in 1998 when they defeated the West Indies to win the ICC Knockout Trophy.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma played a major role to the side's victory in the WTC final, playing a valiant inning of 66. Him alongside Aiden Markram were the catalysts to the Proteas' win over Australia as their brilliant knocks massively helped the side in reaching the target of 282.
Many supporters greeted the South African team at the airport in Johannesburg
When the South African team returned to Johannesburg following their WTC triumph, lots of supporters greeted them at the airport. Bavuma described the moment as 'overwhelming' and stated that he hadn't seen their fans show such emotion ever before.
"It was quite overwhelming and I have not seen such a lot of people at the airport before. It's quite different to when we came home from the last (Twenty20) World Cup. I guess we have not really realised what we have done until you see that emotion. And to have done it in a proper South African way -- it was not simple nor easy -- shows something unique to this group and that is that we embrace everything of what it means to be South African," Bavuma said at the Cricket South Africa headquarters.
"From a team perspective, we would like to leave a legacy behind and start inspiring and encouraging other teams to go and win trophies. Hopefully this is the start of a lot of trophies. We don't have a big legacy yet, but we can speak again in two or three years time when we have started a culture of winning trophies," he added.
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The South Africa skipper feels that it was the side's positivity and passion that kept them going and helped them in finally bringing home a major title.
"It speaks to all budding cricketers or any individual in fact, that it is not simple and easy to fulfil your journey. But when you start questioning things, as long as you keep your passion and keep positive, then you can achieve what people think is impossible," Bavuma stated.
"As much as the Aussies were saying we were chokers in the field, we never made it our thing. We just said we've got to keep going and be relentless, and the harder we knock, the doors will open. Chokers was not our tag to carry, we never spoke about it, although you always feel a responsibility when you wear the badge. But for now we're going to enjoy this moment and seeing the joy of my family and my strong support system, there is nothing better," he added.
South Africa will now be embarking on a tour to Zimbabwe where they will be facing-off against the hosts in a two-match Test series that is set to commence from June 28. It will be interesting to see if the Proteas will be able to keep their nine-match unbeaten streak in Test cricket alive in the series.