South Africa made history at Lord's Cricket Ground in London by defeating Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final 2025 to break their 27-year ICC trophy drought. Their last significant ICC victory was in the 1998 ICC Knockout Trophy, and after all those near misses in years, they eventually hoisted the WTC mace.
South African captain Temba Bavuma was key in this win, extending his unbeaten Test captaincy record. The Proteas had also almost ended their title drought in the 2024 T20 World Cup Final but lost to India. However, Bavuma captained South Africa with incredible consistency during the WTC cycle, winning seven out of eight and drawing one. Bavuma, as captain, has nine wins and a draw to his name in Test cricket.
Though he was injured in the hamstring during the initial part of the 2nd innings, Bavuma made 36 runs in the first innings and match-winning 66 in the second. His third-wicket 147-run association with Aiden Markram proved to be the turning point in winning the match.
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Bavuma also shares a record for having nine successive 30-plus scores in Test cricket, just behind being matched by a former England player Ted Dexter who had 11 successive 30+ scores. South Africa's victory also stretched their winning streak to eight successive Test matches, their second-longest in history.
Australia scored 212 runs in the first innings with Steve Smith (66) and Beau Webster (72) taking charge and Kagiso Rabada picking a five-wicket haul. South Africa struggled in the first innings, getting bowled out for 138 with the assistance of Pat Cummins' six-wicket haul masterclass.
