Australia’s World Test Championship defence is off to a rocky start courtesy of a superb opening spell from South African quick Kagiso Rabada on day one at Lord’s.
The reigning champions are 4-67 at lunch, with vice-captain Steve Smith unbeaten on 26, after Temba Bavuma won the toss and chose to bowl first in London, hoping to expose Australia’s unsettled top order under grey skies.
The Proteas captain’s brave call quickly paid dividends when Rabada struck twice in the seventh over of the morning session, removing opener Usman Khawaja for a 20-ball duck and the returning Cameron Green for 4.
And fellow seamer Marco Jansen ensured South Africa were in the preferred position at lunch by dismissing newborn opener Marnus Labschagne (17) and the dangerous Travis Head (11) before the break.
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Rabada, having recently served a one-month suspension for recreational drug use, tormented Australia’s top order in a probing opening spell of 2-9 from six overs, relentlessly threatening off stump with the shiny, wobbly Dukes.
The watchful Khawaja survived 30 minutes in challenging conditions without troubling the scorers before edging a seaming delivery from around the wicket that sailed towards David Bedingham in the slips cordon, who swallowed a regulation chance.
Rabada then accounted for Green, batting at No. 3 for the first time in Tests, three balls later with a fuller delivery that kissed the outside edge and settled in Aiden Markram’s hands at second slip.
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Labuschagne, potentially fighting for his Test career, added 30 alongside Smith for the third wicket before falling victim to Jansen, fending in the channel and tickling behind to gloveman Kyle Verreynne.
Late in the morning session, Smith was handed a massive reprieve on 26 when the Proteas reviewed a marginal LBW chance, only for ball-tracking technology to suggest Jansen’s hooping delivery would have clipped leg stump for a fortuitous Umpire’s Call verdict.
However, on what proved the final delivery before the lunch break, Head strangled a wayward delivery from Jansen down the leg side, with Verreynne holding onto a one-handed chance low to his right. The South Australian’s head dropped in disbelief before begrudgingly trudging off.
Australia, boasting one of the greatest bowling attacks of the modern era, is competing to become the first nation to win consecutive World Test Championship titles, while the Proteas will be desperate to lift their first major trophy since the 1998 ICC Knockout, a 27-year drought headlined by plenty of World Cup heartbreak.
South Africa topped the World Test Championship standings with eight victories in 12 matches, including seven wins in a row ahead of this week’s marquee fixture.
Follow Australia v South Africa in the World Test Championship final live below!
Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
South Africa XI: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (c), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi.
Session times AEST
Morning session 7:30pm-9:30pm
Lunch 9:30pm-10:10pm
Afternoon session 10:10pm-12:10am
Tea 12:10am-12:30am
Evening session 12:30am-2:30am
DAY ONE PREVIEW
South Africa will aim to banish their reputation as international cricket’s serial chokers when they face holders Australia in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s.
Despite being able to call on some of the sport’s most formidable players, South Africa have won just one major tournament over the last 27 years. They lifted the ICC Knockout, a forerunner of the Champions Trophy, back in 1998.
But by contrast the top-ranked Australians, who beat India in the 2023 WTC final, have an enviable record at the sharp end of the biggest events.
They have won the one-day World Cup a record six times, lifted the Champions Trophy twice and have also triumphed at the T20 World Cup.
South Africa have earned an unwanted tag as repeat failures when the stakes are highest after an agonising run of near-misses.
In last year’s T20 World Cup final, despite needing 30 to win off 30 balls with six wickets remaining, they still lost to India in Barbados.
However, South Africa coach Shukri Conrad, speaking ahead of Wednesday’s opening day of the five-day final, said: “The more finals you play in, you obviously improve your chances of winning. It doesn’t weigh heavy on us.
“It’s unfair to burden this group with anything that’s gone before. We know we want to and we need to win another ICC event, but whatever tags come along, we don’t wear that.”
South Africa reeled off six successive wins to book their place in this year’s WTC final, effectively playing ‘knockout’ cricket to qualify after losing with a weakened side in New Zealand in 2024 when officials prioritised a domestic T20 competition.
With a title in their sights, Proteas captain Temba Bavuma believes Australia’s decision to push Marnus Labuschagne up the order to open for the first time in Tests indicates how South Africa could triumph at Lord’s.
“I think both teams have formidable bowling attacks,” he said. “The real opportunity is within the two batting line-ups and how they are able to kind of front up and give their bowlers a score to bowl at.”
Several players in South Africa’s side will be new to Australia, with the champions’ captain, Pat Cummins, saying: “I think we’re going to have to problem solve on our feet a bit more.”
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The WTC’s format has faced widespread criticism, with Wisden, the sport’s most revered publication, proclaiming it “a shambles masquerading as a showpiece”.
Political tensions mean India and Pakistan have not played a Test against each other since 2007.
The nine-nation WTC is further skewed because the teams are not all required to face each other or to play the same number of matches, with positions in the table based on the percentage of available points won.
South Africa played just 12 Tests in the current cycle — all of them two-match series — compared to England’s 22, and have not faced either England or Australia, who reached the final with 13 wins from 19 Tests.
Conrad countered the criticism of his side’s path to the final by pointing out they had enjoyed wins over teams who had beaten the ‘Big Three’ of India, Australia and England.
“One of the ‘nobodies’ we beat won a Test match in Australia — West Indies beat Australia in a Test match. They are not nobody,” insisted Conrad.
“New Zealand beat India, three-zip in India. New Zealand is not a nobody.”
This week’s match is only the third WTC final, with New Zealand the inaugural champions in 2021.
And for all its faults, Cummins is adamant the WTC is a prize worth winning.
“You’ve got to basically win in all different conditions to make it into this final,” the fast bowler said.
“If we can retain that mace, that’s a pretty awesome thing for this team.”