South Africa finally ended their 27-year wait for an ICC trophy by defeating Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord's on Saturday. It was a fine all-round display from the Proteas, who after giving fine bowling performances in both of Australia's innings, batted incredibly well to chase down the 282-run target.
Markram and Bavuma's knocks were pivotal to South Africa's victory
Aiden Markram was the catalyst to South Africa's victory, playing a fantastic knock of 136 during the run-chase of 282. The batter hit a total of 14 boundaries in his sensational knock which propelled his side to the target.
Skipper Temba Bavuma also played a major role in the victory with his valuable knock of 66. The 21-run cameo of David Bedingham was also quite important as it provided the side with much-needed stability towards the end. Finally, it was Kyle Verreynne, who scored the winning runs for the Proteas.
The South Africa dugout went completely berserk as the final runs were scored and the whole squad could be seen celebrating the big victory at the balcony. However, on one end, Bavuma could be seen shedding his tears as his side finally brought an end to their trophy drought.
It wasn't just a celebratory moment for South Africa but it was also an emotional one as after several failed runs in ICC tournaments, the Proteas finally managed to win only their second-ever major international trophy.
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The last time that South Africa won a major honour was back in 1998 when they defeated West Indies in the final of the ICC Knockout Trophy. The side came quite close of snapping their trophy drought last year when they made it to the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup. However, they ended up getting defeated by India in Barbados.