South Africa have done it! The Proteas finally achieved their ultimate dream of winning an ICC trophy when they beat Australia by five wickets to be crowned the World Test Champions. It’s taken them 27 years. The last time it happened was in 1998, when South Africa won the first-ever ICC Champions Trophy. It wasn’t a world title, though. What a long wait it has been. AB de Villiers played and retired. Graeme Smith played and retired. Jacques Kallis, Allan Donald, Gary Kirsten… all came and went, but South Africa continued to amuse.
Until today, when it all became a thing of the past. Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram put together a partnership for the ages, doing what no one – not even their own – expected them to do. And that is, beat the mighty Australians at the hallowed turf of Lord’s, and once and for all, put an end to the Choker’s tag that has haunted them for years.
Also Read: South Africa win World Test Championship title; ice-cool Aiden Markram, gritty Temba Bavuma end wait for ICC title
Think about the countless heartbreaks. The 1992 DLS robbery, the 2003 World Cup first-round exit, the evergreen Edgbaston debacle in 1999, the crushed expectations in Auckland 2015, and most recently, the T20 World Cup missed on June 29, 2024. But all that is now a thing of the past. For each of the heartbreaks, South Africa can look to June 14, 2025, as the day the rainbow nations’ dreams came true. Oh, what a moment.
Also Read: Pakistan asked to ‘apologise’ for ‘disrespecting’ Temba Bavuma as viral video resurfaces during WTC final
How did it all happen? Well, for that, let’s take a blow-by-blow account of the WTC final, which triggered the winds of change for South Africa
1 Rabada reminds why he must be taken as seriously as a Bumrah or a Starc
When it comes to discussing the leading fast bowlers in world cricket, Kagiso Rabada’s name often goes unnoticed. It’s always Jasprit Bumrah this, Mitchell Starc that. About time that the world puts a little more respect on the Rabada name. Coming back from a ban due to the usage of a recreational drug, Radaba showed no signs of ring rush, immediately getting on top of the Aussie and backing his captain Bavuma’s decision to bowl first. For the first three overs, it was almost as if openers Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne put on a small set of replays – countless plays and misses. It wasn’t until his 20th delivery that Rabada conceded his first run, but he didn’t mind. He went on to pick five Australian wickets from there, and four more in the second innings, taking his match figures to 9/110.
2 David Bedingham makes the most of his domestic form
Ahead of the start of this year’s SA20, league commissioner Graeme Smith briefly touched upon how domestic cricket in South Africa doesn’t draw a large crowd. Well, after today, Smith would expect that to change. Leave aside David Bedingham’s near-disastrous ‘handling the ball’ incident, the 31-year-old made the most of his red-ball form, which saw him notch up scores of 58, 45, 68, 43, and 67 for the South African Western Province. Despite ending up trailing Australia by 69 runs, Bedingham played one of the most composed knocks of this WTC final, with a measured approach. 45 runs off 111 balls may not paint the correct picture, but those who batted on the first two days under overcast conditions know how tough batting was. Well, Bedingham sure didn’t make it look so.
3 Who else but Aiden Markram?
Let’s rewind to January, 2024. India wrapped up one of their most famous Test wins when they beat South Africa by seven wickets to level the series 1-1. The game lasted just 107 overs, winding up in less than two days, making it the shortest Test match of all time. You can imagine how deadly the wicket was, for 33 wickets to fall inside five sessions. On that pitch, Makram had blasted a 103-ball 106. And today, a knock that he will remember for the rest of his life. 136 off 207 balls. A clutch innings.
A little over a year later, Markram set himself up for the big stage. Out for duck in the first innings, the former South Africa captain redeemed himself and how? By pummelling the Aussie bowlers, en route to getting his name etched on the Lord’s honours board. Makram, like Rabada, too, flies under the radar most of the time, but if you look at his numbers, and just today, Virat Kohli’s old tweet that went viral, will prove how consistent and incredible he has been for South Africa.
4 All hail Lord Bavuma
Get over Shardul Thakur. The real lord is here, and he goes by the name of Temba Bavuma. What has this guy not done? From being a fodder for the memers to becoming the captain of a World Championship-winning South African team. In what turned out to be the most important innings of his life, let alone for South Africa, the captain batted with a hamstring strain and completed a gritty half-century, only to ensure that his team did not fumble. Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Starc can smell blood, and any opening, and Bavuma knows it. So instead of retiring hurt, Bavuma battled on, forging a partnership of 147 runs for the fourth wicket to end South Africa’s long wait. He eventually perished, but had done his bit to secure the moment he and his country were waiting for so long