South Africa seal historic ICC World Test Championship triumph
LONDON: South Africa ended 27 years of hurt by beating Australia at Lord's to win the ICC World Test Championship 2025 on Saturday.
Aiden Markram's majestic 136 led the way as the Proteas sealed a five-wicket victory to lift this trophy for the first time and end a drought stretching back to the 1998 Champions Trophy.
Australia did not give up without a fight, claiming the scalps of Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs before Markram was caught at mid-wicket with just six runs required having taken his side within touching distance.
It was left to David Bedingham and Kyle Verreynne to complete the job and spark joyous scenes from the sizable South African contingent inside the Home of Cricket, Verreynne hitting the winning runs to seal a memorable triumph.
South Africa resumed on 213 for two, needing 69 more to seal the deal, and would have been pleased to see the early morning cloud give way to sunshine when they took to the field in North-West London.
But Australia began in typically determined fashion and claimed the early breakthrough they required in the third over of the morning, Pat Cummins finding Bavuma's edge when the Proteas skipper had added just a single to his overnight score of 65.
The incoming Stubbs survived an Australian review for lbw when the ball was shown to be missing leg stump, with Markram dispatching the next ball to the mid-wicket boundary to take the runs required to 50.
Australia's bowlers continued to steam in and gave themselves a sniff when Starc delivered a beauty which cleaned up Stubbs and left South Africa 241 for four.
The same bowler soon struck Bedingham on the pads and Australia again went upstairs. Replays showed the impact was outside the line of off-stump, however, and the 2023 champions found themselves out of reviews.
Markram and Bedingham played sensibly to inch South Africa towards their place in the history books. The pair rotated the strike effectively and played with a calm which belied the pressure of the situation, Bedingham driving Cummins gloriously down the ground to move the target within 20.
Australia took the new ball with 14 required and Markram greeted it dismissively, whipping Hazlewood through the leg-side for four from the first delivery of the 81st over.
That brought South Africa to the brink but Markram was unable to finish the job he had played such a key role in orchestrating, chipping Hazlewood to Travis Head.
Verreynne joined Bedingham and the wicketkeeper struck the final blow in the 84th over, driving Starc through the off-side to begin the celebrations and ensure these 11 names will be etched into South African cricketing folklore for generations to come.
Scores in brief
Australia v South Africa – ICC World Test Championship Final 2025, Lord's – Day Four
Australia 212 all out in 56.4 overs (Beau Webster 72, Steve Smith 66; Kagiso Rabada 5/51, Marco Jansen 3/49) and 207 all out in 65 overs (Mitchell Starc 58 not out, Alex Carey 43; Kagiso Rabada 4/59, Lungi Ngidi 3/38)
South Africa 138 all out in 57.1 overs (David Bedingham 45, Temba Bavuma 36; Pat Cummins 6/28, Mitchell Starc 2/41) and 282/5 in 83.4 overs (Aiden Markram 136, Temba Bavuma 66; Mitchell Starc 3/66, Josh Hazlewood 1/58)
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