London: Australia have lost their World Test Championship title to South Africa after the Proteas pulled off a nervy fourth innings chase at Lord’s, to end decades of trauma in big finals.
Aiden Markram (136) guided his side to within just six runs of victory with a magnificent century before he was finally caught by Travis Head off Josh Hazlewood, but the damage was already done.
Just minutes after the crowd stood to applaud Markram as he left the field, keeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne hit Mitchell Starc through the covers to clinch a remarkable five-wicket victory after Pat Cummins’ men made the Proteas sweat by keeping runs tight and taking the wickets of Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs.
Aiden Markram was the star of the show for South Africa.Credit: Getty Images
Australian desperation was underlined by how Cummins burned through all his team’s three DRS referrals in the space of about an hour as he tried to gamble for wickets. They also appealed for a catch at short leg off Travis Head’s boot, but replays showed the ball had hit the ground first. Even Verreynne would have been sent on his way late, caught behind attempting to ramp Starc.
It was ultimately a decisive triumph for the South Africans, who claimed their first win in a major global tournament final after years of near misses, most recently at last year’s Twenty20 World Cup in the Caribbean. All up, their heartbreak in knockout games at the biggest tournaments – the men’s 50-over world cup, the Twenty20 world cup, and the men’s Champions Trophy – spanned two quarter-finals, 12 semi-finals and one final.
“Years in the waiting… [against] the biggest opposition, in Australia, they’ve given us so much heartache over the years, but now the exclamation mark of an ICC event,” said former Proteas skipper Shaun Pollock in commentary after the winning runs were struck.
“They’ll be singing, they’ll be dancing on the streets of South Africa.”
But this win was their eighth Test match victory in as many games.
Steve Smith could only watch the final stages from the team balcony in the members’ pavilion after suffering a compound dislocation of his right little finger after trying to take a catch on the third day.
The game’s most critical passage was Australia’s batting collapse to be 7-73 after starting the second innings with a substantial lead. While the lower order mounted a recovery, batting conditions had eased substantially from the first two days, giving Markram the chance to guide his team home.
More to come
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