Day 1 of the ICC World Test Championship Final 2025 at Lord’s offered gripping action with high-quality pace bowling and tense moments. After being sent in to bat by South Africa, Australia posted 212 thanks to gritty knocks from Steve Smith (66) and Beau Webster (72), but the story of the day was Kagiso Rabada’s sensational five-wicket haul. South Africa’s reply, however, turned into a top-order collapse, with the Proteas reeling at 43/4 by stumps, still trailing by 169 runs. A riveting contest between two strong pace attacks has set the tone for a high-stakes final.

Kagiso Rabada wrecks Australia with five-wicket blitz at Lord’s

Rabada delivered one of his finest spells on England soil, dismantling Australia’s batting lineup with a fiery 5/51 across 15.4 overs. He set the tone early, removing Usman Khawaja for a duck and returning later to remove Cameron Green, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and the well-set Beau Webster to clean up the tail. Rabada got the ball to nip both ways and extracted good bounce from the Lord’s surface, keeping the Australians on the defensive. Only Smith and Webster showed resistance, Smith with a composed 66 and Webster counterattacking with 72, but neither could convert their starts into a big hundred as Rabada and Marco Jansen (3/49) maintained relentless pressure. Australia were bowled out in under 60 overs, with six batters failing to reach double digits.

Also WATCH: SA vs AUS: Marco Jansen takes a sensational juggling catch to get rid of Steve Smith | WTC 2025 Final, Day 1

South Africa’s top order crumbles against Australia in WTC 2025 final

In reply, South Africa endured a nightmare start against Australia’s potent pace trio. Mitchell Starc was lethal upfront, dismissing Aiden Markram for a duck and then Ryan Rickelton for 16 with classic left-arm angle and seam movement. Wiaan Mulder then played a sluggish 44-ball stay before being bowled through the gate by a seaming delivery from Pat Cummins. Josh Hazlewood joined the act to dismiss debutant Tristan Stubbs cheaply, reducing South Africa to 30/4. With captain Temba Bavuma struggling on 3 off 37 balls and David Niedingham new at the crease, the Proteas limped to 43/4 at stumps. The pace-friendly conditions and disciplined Australian bowling have left South Africa under severe pressure heading into Day 2 of this high-octane final.