South Africa defeated Australia by five wickets in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final. Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, the South African cricket team made history by beating Australia in the ICC WTC final. Led by Temba Bavuma, South Africa successfully chased a challenging target of 282 runs in the second innings, overcoming strong Australian bowling to secure the victory.
The four-day final was a thrilling contest with momentum swings. The first two days were dominated by bowlers, but the batsmen gained control in the last two days. Temba Bavuma, Choosing to field first, South Africa’s bowlers, highlighted by Kagiso Rabada’s five-wicket haul, dismissed Australia for 212 in their first innings.
Temba Bavuma: Australia responded by bowling out South Africa for just 138, gaining a 74-run lead. In their second innings, Australia were all out for 207, setting South Africa a target of 282 runs to win. After being dismissed for a duck in the first innings, opener Aiden Markram played a brilliant century, scoring 136 runs to bring his team close to victory. David Bedingham (21* not out) and Kyle Verreynne (4* not out) then guided South Africa to a historic win.
South Africa, led by Temba Bavuma, lift the ICC Test mace at Lord’s
After a 27-year wait, South Africa has finally won an ICC title again. Their last ICC trophy was the 1998 ICC Champions Trophy (then known as the ICC Knockout Trophy), where they defeated the West Indies in the final. Since then, they hadn’t claimed any ICC championship until now. Temba Bavuma Last year, they came close but lost the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final to India, finishing as runners-up.
Temba Bavuma: Now, South Africa has ended their 27-year drought by winning the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25. The ICC chairman, Jay Shah, presented the ICC Test mace to the South African team at Lord’s Cricket Ground. The ICC shared a video of this special moment on their official Instagram account.
