South Africa Have Won the 2025 ICC World Test Championship Final

Needing 69 more runs to win on Day 4 at Lord’s, South Africa got off to a nervy start with the early dismissals of Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs.

However, the Proteas were able to get over the line comfortably in the end, chasing down the Australian total with 6 wickets in hand.

South Africa seal historic ICC World Test Championship triumph

South Africa ended 27 years of hurt by beating Australia at Lord’s to win the ICC World Test Championship 2025.

Aiden Markram’s majestic 136 led the way as the Proteas sealed a five-wicket victory to lift this trophy for the first time and end a drought stretching back to the 1998 Champions Trophy.

Australia did not give up without a fight, claiming the scalps of Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs before Markram was caught at mid-wicket with just six runs required having taken his side within touching distance.

It was left to David Bedingham and Kyle Verreynne to complete the job and spark joyous scenes from the sizable South African contingent inside the Home of Cricket, Verreynne hitting the winning runs to seal a memorable triumph.

South Africa resumed on 213 for two, needing 69 more to seal the deal, and would have been pleased to see the early morning cloud give way to sunshine when they took to the field in North-West London.

But Australia began in typically determined fashion and claimed the early breakthrough they required in the third over of the morning, Pat Cummins finding Bavuma’s edge when the Proteas skipper had added just a single to his overnight score of 65.

The incoming Stubbs survived an Australian review for lbw when the ball was shown to be missing leg stump, with Markram dispatching the next ball to the mid-wicket boundary to take the runs required to 50.

Australia’s bowlers continued to steam in and gave themselves a sniff when Starc delivered a beauty which cleaned up Stubbs and left South Africa 241 for four.

The same bowler soon struck Bedingham on the pads and Australia again went upstairs. Replays showed the impact was outside the line of off-stump, however, and the 2023 champions found themselves out of reviews.

Markram and Bedingham played sensibly to inch South Africa towards their place in the history books. The pair rotated the strike effectively and played with a calm which belied the pressure of the situation, Bedingham driving Cummins gloriously down the ground to move the target within 20.

Australia took the new ball with 14 required and Markram greeted it dismissively, whipping Hazlewood through the leg-side for four from the first delivery of the 81st over.

That brought South Africa to the brink but Markram was unable to finish the job he had played such a key role in orchestrating, chipping Hazlewood to Travis Head.

Verreynne joined Bedingham and the wicketkeeper struck the final blow in the 84th over, driving Starc through the off-side to begin the celebrations and ensure these 11 names will be etched into South African cricketing folklore for generations to come.

Scores in brief

Australia v South Africa – ICC World Test Championship Final 2025, Lord’s – Day Four

Australia 212 all out in 56.4 overs (Beau Webster 72, Steve Smith 66; Kagiso Rabada 5/51, Marco Jansen 3/49) and 207 all out in 65 overs (Mitchell Starc 58 not out, Alex Carey 43; Kagiso Rabada 4/59, Lungi Ngidi 3/38)

South Africa 138 all out in 57.1 overs (David Bedingham 45, Temba Bavuma 36; Pat Cummins 6/28, Mitchell Starc 2/41) and 282/5 in 83.4 overs (Aiden Markram 136, Temba Bavuma 66; Mitchell Starc 3/66, Josh Hazlewood 1/58)

Result: South Africa win by five wickets

Cummins: Australia must move on quickly in bid to regain crown

Pat Cummins says his Australia side need to ‘dust themselves down’ and move on quickly following their ICC World Test Championship Final defeat against South Africa.

Kyle Verreynne hit the winning runs for the Proteas, who claimed their first ICC competition victory in 27 years after successfully chasing down their target of 282 for the loss of five wickets.

David Bedingham was also not out on 21 after Australia claimed the wickets of Temba Bavuma, Tristan Stubbs and Aiden Markram on day four, with the overnight centurion caught at mid-wicket with just six runs required for victory.

The Australian captain had an excellent individual match, taking six for 28 in South Africa’s first innings to reach 300 Test scalps, but was naturally disappointed to see his side relinquish the crown they won two years ago.

They now travel to the Caribbean to take on the West Indies in their first series of the 2025-27 cycle and Cummins is relieved they do not have too long to lick their wounds.

“To make these finals, it’s normally off the back of being really strong at home, but you’ve got to win some away series too,” said Cummins.

“We’ve got a good chance to do that straight away. A three Test-match series out there, it means we’re into some really important cricket.

“So, in some ways, it’s good we get to dust ourselves off and turnaround in a couple of weeks and start looking ahead to the next one.

“That’s one of the good things about the World Test Championship, every Test series and every Test match feels like you’re playing for something significant.”

Cummins got Australia off to a strong start on day four as he had his opposing captain Bavuma caught behind by Alex Carey for 66 in the third over of the day.

At the time of the South African skipper’s removal, only four runs had been added to their overnight score of 213 for two and the Proteas still required 65.

Mitchell Starc then bowled Stubbs with a beautiful delivery for eight to keep Australia in the hunt of pulling off an unlikely win, but a composed 35-run partnership between Markram and Bedingham extinguished their faint hopes.

Markram’s innings of 136 was the decisive one and once he was finally dismissed – caught by Travis Head off the bowling of Josh Hazlewood – he was congratulated by the entire Australian team on his way off the field as well as receiving a standing ovation from the largely South African crowd packed into the Home of Cricket.

“He was pretty hard to dislodge,” he continued. “He batted very well and kept the scoring ticking over which for us was frustrating.

“A few of us have played alongside him at the IPL, he’s very well respected and a good man.

“Unfortunately for us, he made it look easy out there and built a big innings. We threw a fair bit at him, but he had an answer for everything.”

It was a game that Australia did hold the upper hand in at times, most notably when they bowled South Africa out for 138 to take a first innings lead of 74.

But Cummins admitted his team now had a feeling of ‘what might have been’ and rued not having a bigger advantage after both teams had batted.

“There’s lots of moments where both teams wrestled back control,” he added.

“Our first innings lead was really important. But it was an opportunity where we could have batted the opposition out of the game by putting on well over 300 plus.

“We didn’t give ourselves a big enough buffer and we let them back into the game.

“It’s disappointing to miss a huge opportunity like this, and when it happens by a little bit, it leaves you feeling a bit empty.”

Markram: South Africa have silenced the doubters

Aiden Markram hopes South Africa’s ICC World Test Championship Final win over Australia has silenced any doubters and consigned their ‘chokers’ tag to history.

Markram’s superb 136 earned him the Player of the Match prize in the showpiece at Lord’s and will go down as one of the most important knocks in the history of South African cricket.

The 30-year-old opener took his side to the brink of the winning line, falling with his side six runs shy of completing the job, as they lifted their first major ICC trophy since 1998.

Markram has been part of several of the near misses – he was on the losing side as captain in last year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final – which made this success all the sweeter.

“I thought a lot about the T20 World Cup last night and how helpless I felt after getting out,” he said.

“That gave me motivation to make sure I stayed at the crease. It was all about getting the job done.

“This is as big and tough as it gets. All the questions that have been asked in the past have fortunately now been answered.

“It would be great to not hear it (chokers) again, that’s for sure. To get rid of that tag is a big thing for this team.”

Markram reached three figures late on the third evening but that did little to ease his nerves with 69 runs still needed heading into Saturday’s play.

He admitted he slept ‘horribly’ and ‘couldn’t switch off’ as the adrenaline of scoring a century in a match of this magnitude began to hit home, with Markram cutting an emotional figure when he raised his bat.

“The game slowed down a bit, I had time to look around and see fans, my family, my mates in the stands, the changing room,” he said.

“I thought ‘we are here now, we are getting close’. It caught me off guard.

“The hundred happened and tears leaked out, which I was trying to fight. Nothing has hit me today just yet, but something needs to hit me soon as it has been a rollercoaster.”

Markram’s 147-run third-wicket stand with captain Temba Bavuma broke the back of the chase, which is the joint second-highest successful Test match pursuit at the Home of Cricket.

Bavuma was visibly troubled by a hamstring injury but played through the pain barrier to steer his side towards their target, with Markram full of praise for his skipper.

“To see his hammy go was worrying but when we got to tea, we chatted and he said he felt he could keep going,” he said.

“He wanted to know from our side if twos becoming ones would affect me. I said no chance, it’s about the partnership, getting the ball softer, and that’s exactly what he did – and he still managed to run twos and threes.

“He showed a lot of adrenaline, a lot of leadership and character.”

A second sleepless night could be on the cards for Markram this evening for different reasons, with the opener spotted drinking a well-earned beer handed to him by a schoolmate in the crowd as South Africa embarked on a lap of honour.

But the man with the apt birthplace – Centurion – will have plenty of time to reflect on his career high point and hopes the achievements of his side inspire the next generation.

“I’m not here to chase numbers and stats, I just really want to win stuff for South Africa,” he said.

“Test cricket has always been my favourite format and the most important.

“It’s really important to keep Test cricket as the number one in South Africa. It’s more about the young guys coming through, we want their main thing to be getting a Test cap for South Africa.

“The number one priority should always be to play Test cricket. I’ve always believed that and if we get that through to the young people, we’ve done well.”

Bavuma: Victory can help South Africa ‘rejoice and come together’

Temba Bavuma hopes South Africa’s historic ICC World Test Championship Final victory will help his country ‘rejoice and come together’ as he revealed a desire to emulate the Springboks’ all-conquering rugby team.

Bavuma may be almost a foot smaller than his oval-ball counterpart Siya Kolisi but both men are now giants in South African sporting folklore having led their nation to global glory.

The diminutive Proteas’ batter carries plenty of weight on his shoulders but again showed he is a cricketer with plenty of guts in his vital second-innings knock of 66, the majority of which was compiled with a hamstring injury.

He fell early on day four but Aiden Markram continued on to a match-winning 136 before David Bedingham and Kyle Verreynne sealed the outcome amid joyous celebrations at Lord’s as South Africa chased down 282 and ended a 27-year wait for a major ICC trophy.

“The word that comes to mind is special – for this group and the country,” Bavuma said.

“I am not a big rugby fan but I watch those guys and the biggest thing I admire is their success and how they have embraced what South Africa means.

“We are unique in a lot of ways, our present and future is shaped by our past, but the way they have gone about it to capture the hearts of everyone has really made us love them.

“That is something we have spoken about, doing something special. It is a chance for us to rejoice in something, forget our issues and come together.

“For this group of players, there are a lot of doubters but the way we played wiped that out.”

South Africa made slow and steady progress towards their target on day four, which began with 69 more runs required.

Their well-publicised history of failing to get over the line at global events ensured the tension remained until the job was done, at which point Bavuma attempted to take in the magnitude of what he and his side have achieved.

“It was quite tense, even when we got it to 10 runs (needed) we knew anything can happen,” he said.

“When he (Verreynne) scored the runs, I hid my head in my hands, just trying to embrace and acknowledge what we’ve just done.

“I thought of the experiences I’ve had in the last couple of years. It hasn’t been easy, it’s not easy being captain of South Africa.

“All the sacrifice, disappointment, at that moment it really feels worth it.

“When you are going through it all, giving up is always an option in the back of your mind but something wills you on. For me, it’s that moment there.

“(I want) to be recognised as more than just a black African cricketer, and to be seen as someone who has done something the country has wanted.

“I will walk around with my chest out and hope it continues to inspire our country.”

The scenes inside Lord’s as Bavuma and his players embarked upon their well deserved lap of honour suggested they have done just that.

This leafy corner of London was taken over by rapturous South African voices as the Final swung in the direction of the Proteas but while the emotion at breaking their duck was tangible, Bavuma has no plans to stop here.

“We hope this is the start of something, there could be more trophies,” he said.

“We have created history but we would like to emulate, if not do better than what Graeme (Smith) and his team did. They set the standard and I don’t think anyone has reached that yet.

“I’d like us to be in a position where we can go to Pakistan and India, have victories there and do a lot more.

“We have had a lot of success in this cycle, which we don’t look past. But from a longevity point of view, to really get the respect out there as a Test team, we’d like to see where we are in the next two years.”

Verreynne: How it felt to hit winning runs and end South Africa’s trophy drought

Kyle Verreynne revealed his emotions almost got the better of him before he hit the winning runs to end South Africa’s wait for a global trophy.

The 28-year-old drove Mitchell Starc through cover to seal a five-wicket victory for the Proteas over Australia at Lord’s as his side won their first major ICC silverware for 27 years.

Two balls before, Verreynne attempted to scoop Starc and win the game in style but replays showed he got away with a let-off, as the ball nicked his glove on the way through to Alex Carey.

Australia had no reviews left by that stage, meaning the wicketkeeper-batter was able to be the man in the middle when the game was won.

Asked about his shot selection against Starc, he said: “Honestly, I have no answer, I don’t know what happened.

“We needed one run with five wickets in hand so I kind of knew the job was done. There was a rush of emotions, they got the better of me, but thankfully we got it done in the end.”

Verreynne saw the job through with David Bedingham, who he described as his ‘best mate in cricket’, making the triumph all the sweeter.

The pair came together following the morning departures of Temba Bavuma, Tristan Stubbs and Aiden Markram, the Player of the Match falling for 136 with six runs needed.

Verreynne joked that he and Bedingham had been hoping to watch their side’s victory from the comfort of their balcony in Lord’s pavilion but was delighted to share an iconic moment with a close friend.

“We were sitting at dinner last night with a couple of beers and both David and I looked across the table and said, ‘I hope we don’t end up batting tomorrow!” he said.

“When we were out there hitting the winning runs, that was quite a cool moment and made it really special.

“David and I have had a long journey, slightly different paths, but we have gone through our professional career together and batted at school together.

“To be on this stage and get the job done with my best friend in cricket is really, really special.”

South Africa required 69 runs to win on day four and Verreynne, who tuned up for the Final by representing Nottinghamshire in the County Championship, revealed his teammates were confident about it would be them lifting the ICC Test Championship Mace come the end of the game.

“I was very nervous, but not from the point of view of getting the job done,” Verreynne continued.

“Coming here this morning, everyone had that nervousness that comes with excitement.

“We all knew we were probably going to get the job done, especially the way we’ve been playing over the last couple of years.

“How we are as a group, there were no doubt we were going to get across the line. We had that nervous energy and now we can celebrate. There was a lot of nerves, but they were good nerves.”

Verreynne also recognised what their achievement would mean to fans back in South Africa, many of whom would have seen them as underdogs at the beginning of the 2023-25 cycle.

“I don’t think anyone would have expected, two years ago when the cycle started, for us to be in this position,” he added.

“But for us as a team, it’s really incredible. Then you think about what it means to people in our country, for them, it’s really special too.”

DA congratulates Proteas, crowned as ICC World Test Champions

“South Africa continues to be a sports titan on the international stage!” says Willie Aucamp MP – DA National Spokesperson.

The DA congratulates the Proteas for a phenomenal finish this afternoon, beating Australia to win the 2025 ICC World Test Championship.

As a nation, we are always stronger when we work together.

Thank you, Proteas, for continuing to fly our flag high.