Australia vs South Africa: Australia lost the toss and will bat first against South Africa on day one of the decider at Lord’s.

Something that may help Marnus Labuschagne as he walks out to bat at Lord’s is the knowledge that he has customarily been at his best in the first innings of a Test match.

He averages 65.65 in that innings, as opposed to 37.58 in the second. He has also made no fewer than eight of his 11 Test hundreds in the first innings of a match. In other words, setting the agenda has tended to suit Labuschagne.

As we read in earlier posts, the pressure is on Marnus Labuschagne to deliver runs in this Test – and to save his career.

Cam Green, now fit, has taken Labuschagne’s traditional spot at No.3. If Labuschagne cannot fire in this Test, his red-ball career may be put on hold – or come to an end.

Usman Khawaja will look to ease the heat on Labuschagne by helping his Queensland teammate through what shapes as a tough opening session under cloud cover, and with Kagiso Rabada determined to make an early imprint.

South African captain Temba Bavuma calls heads, and calls correctly. South Africa will bowl first.

Pat Cummins says he is happy to bat first, declaring the pitch may dry out, and take turn later in the game.

It’s an overcast morning at Lord’s and conditions may well make this the classic good toss to lose.

The pitch is straw-coloured and looks likely to have plenty of runs in it before it starts to deteriorate, but the overhead cloud cover may well draw some useful movement through the air and off the surface, particularly in the first session.

As Pat Cummins said on match eve: “I think it just looks like a really good wicket. Lord’s can spin maybe late day three but into day four and five. Again it’s one of those wickets that can look like a good wicket and the clouds come over, and it looks a little bit livelier, whatever that word is. So yeah, it’s hard to know but traditionally I think spin does play a role here at Lord’s.”

Marnus Labuschagne has kept Sam Konstas out of the Australian team for the world Test championship final at Lord’s, as captain Pat Cummins revealed his instructions for Usman Khawaja’s latest opening partner.

Cummins confirmed the team in London last night, with Cameron Green coming back at number three in the order and Josh Hazlewood beating Scott Boland for the third pace bowling spot.

Cummins stressed that Labuschagne needed to find ways to put pressure back onto South Africa’s bowlers at the top of the order this week, as both Konstas and Josh Inglis challenge for places in the top six.

“The extra layer is I do believe the pitches in Australia have been as hard as ever in Test cricket for the top order and the starting point for Marnus was similar to mine, they were pretty flat batting wickets in general, whereas the last few years have been tough going for the top order.

“It’s a similar conversation to David Warner over here. It’s more about the style and how they go about it. We love when they’re busy and putting pressure back on the bowlers.

“That’s our message here to Marnus, opening the batting can be tough, but it can also be the best time to bat before the Dukes ball actually starts swinging and there’s runs to be scored. So it’s keeping that positive intent is when he’s batting at his best.”

As the world’s best team over the past four years, Australia are more or less a well-known quantity entering the world Test championship final at Lord’s.

Aside from some doubts about Labuschagne’s place in their future, Cummins’ team is extremely settled, with vast experience and plenty of confidence in themselves.

Lately, Cummins, his deputy Steve Smith and others have hinted they may well keep playing for longer than once thought, an indicator of how much they are enjoying the game at present. There are few surprises about the setup, just a lot of quality and durability in the face of advancing years. They do not look like a fading force.

The biggest question this week, then, is about South Africa. Are they up to challenging Australia in a one-off game to decide the title, or might they find themselves revisiting the hated “chokers” tag that has followed the Proteas around at showpiece finals for most of the past three decades?

Tellingly, South Africa’s coach, the plain-speaking Shukri Conrad, has not been shy about forcing his players to confront that tag. In December, when the Proteas looked like they might cough up a winning position against Pakistan on home soil when qualification for the final was up for grabs, he challenged the team not to choke.

The result was a narrow victory, and Conrad revisited that territory this week.

“I thought it was the opportune time to lay down that challenge,” Conrad said. “Maybe because we had another chance, if it didn’t go our way we had another chance in Cape Town. But yeah, it didn’t go down kindly, but at some stage that conversation needs to be had, you know, and it’s all about choosing when to have that.

“So we added the evening before, left it, result worked out okay. We touched on it briefly the other day around, what were the learnings from that and what sort of response we can expect.”

Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma said his team had evolved considerably since they were comfortably beaten in Australia in 2022-23. Conrad and Bavuma were appointed captain and coach immediately afterwards.

“Oh that wasn’t a good time in Australia,” Bavuma said. “I think for a lot of us who were there, it was a little bit of an eye-opener. Playing against Australia, seeing how their batters went about their business, facing their bowlers and how you’re always under pressure and you had to find ways to exert pressure back on them.

“And I think that, at least for me, gave me an opportunity to kind of have a look at my game, to see where I can improve and hopefully try to emulate the performances that those batters were putting up at that point in time. I think it was a critical point in our journey as cricketers, but for me particularly.”

Victory in this WTC decider would mean more to South Africa. It would be a fillip for a country that has long battled to make the sums add up to play as much Test cricket as Australia, England and India. And in London, the Proteas will almost certainly have more support among neutral spectators.

But they face a formidable challenge in Australia. Rested and primed, they also now have the benefit of a rejuvenated Smith at four.

South Africa’s history in ICC finals is poor, reaching the one-day World Cup semi-finals five times without once advancing into a final. They were also beaten in last year’s Twenty20 World Cup final by India.

However, Proteas opener Aiden Markram says his team has buried any of its big-game scars.

“This team is a bit different, obviously very different personnel to the white-ball squad as well. We haven’t addressed it [the history] too much,” Markram said.

“The few of us who have been a part of previous ICC events that didn’t go our way have dealt with it, have chatted to each other and made sure we have buried it nicely and taken some good lessons from it.”

Markram will open the batting at Lord’s alongside Ryan Rickelton.

Alex Carey returns to Lord’s for the first time since his controversial stumping of Englishman Johnny Bairstow.

The incident in the 2023 Ashes sparked uproar from the Lord’s crowd, particularly the Members in the traditionally polite Long Room.

Carey later admitted the fallout of that incident took a toll on him, but was at ease recalling the Test this week at an Amazon Prime launch.

“Yeah, no spinner and still got a stumping so that was good in that Test match,” Carey joked, when recalling Nathan Lyon’s absence in that Test’s fourth innings.

Carey will be hoping the crowd is on his side during the WTC final.