Aiden Markram’s resilience against the formidable Australian bowling attack has helped South Africa to win the World Test Championship at Lord’s on Saturday.
South Africa secured a five-wicket victory against Australia to secure an ICC title after 27 years since the 1998 KnockOut tournament.
Batting first, Australia posted a score of 212 runs in their first innings. Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne opened the innings but failed to impress as both openers were dismissed cheaply.
Steven Smith and Beau Webster were the top scorers for Australia, scoring 66 and 72 runs respectively. With Pat Cummins and Alex Carey’s cameo, Australia were able to cross the 200-run mark.
Kagiso Rabada was impressive with his bowling picking five wicket haul. Jansen joined the former to creat havoc in Australia’s batting line-up.
South Africa openers Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton went on to lose their wickets early. However, Temba Bavuma’s 36 and David Bedingham’s 45 runs were the high scores for Proteas as the side were restricted for 138 runs in their first innings.
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 🏆🇿🇦
South Africa take home the 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐞 👏#WTC25 #SAvAUS pic.twitter.com/Yy4C4AQEO7
— ICC (@ICC) June 14, 2025
Pat Cummins went on to pick 6 wickets while Starc bagged two wickets. With 74 run lead, Australia started their second innings and scored 207 runs.
With Australia’s top order failure, Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc were the only scorers in the second innings. Mulder went on to bag the wicket of Travis Head for 9 runs, but Carey went on to score 43 runs while Starc went on to score 58* runs.
Rabada impressed with four wickets while Lungi Ngidi supported with 3 dismissals. Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder and Aiden Markram went on to pick one wickets each.
With 282 runs target, South Africa started their second innings where Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder went on to lose their wickets early. With Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma stabilizing the innings, South Africa went on to score 213 runs by the end of day 03.
Markram went on to score a century while Bavuma hit a half century and remained unbeaten during the stumps.
Resuming the game on day 04, Cummins dismissed Bavuma for 66 runs but Markram led the side march toward victory. After Markram’s dismissal for 136 runs, David Bedingham and Kyle Verreynne went on to complete the chase to secure championship title.
