South African skipper Temba Bavuma led from the front with an impeccable knock in the second innings of World Test Championship Final against Australia on Friday, June 13 at Lord’s. While chasing a challenging total of 282 runs at swing conducive conditions at iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground, Bavuma kept his calm battling it out against one of the finest bowling attacks in the world. The South African skipper smashed a fine fifty despite despite being badly hampered by a dodgy hamstring.
With this stellar innings, the 35-year-old matched Inzamam-Ul-Haq and broke Steve Smith and Babar Azam’s record in an elusive list of Test records. The Proteas batter now holds records of playing nine consecutive 30+ score knocks in Test cricket.
Player With Most Consecutive 30+ Scores In Tests
Ted Dexter – 11
Temba Bavuma – 9
Inzamam-Ul-Haq – 9
Babar Azam – 8
Steve Smith – 8
Bavuma accompanied Aiden Markram to cross one of the biggest barriers in World Cricket- final pressure against the mighty kangaroos. Australia are the defending Champions of WTC and their lethal bowling bundling SA for a mere 138 runs was a perfect testimony for the same.
Meanwhile, SA didn’t let the demons of the first innings scare them and made a miraculous comeback, almost sealing the ongoing game with 2 days left. South Africa now needs 69 runs to win with 8 wickets in hand.
Aiden Markram scripted his name in the history books with one of the finest hundreds the game has seen in 4th innings while chasing. Aiden stands unbeaten on 102* of 159 balls with 11 smashing fours accompanied by Bavuma’s calculated 65* of 121 balls comprising 5 fours. The Proteas are all set to script history becoming the only team to defeat Australia in an ICC final in this decade.
So Near Yet So Far
The win will not just be a win but a statement from the team breaking age long jinx and the ‘Choker’ tag. SA has been time and again close to winning an ICC Trophy but have succumbed to the big match pressure over the years. South Africa failed to chase 30 of 30 balls against India in the last T20 World Cup final held at Barbados in 2024. The same South African unit was knocked out by Australia in the ODI World Cup 2023 Semi-final too.
Temba can become the first captain to help South Africa get the trophy they have been always dreaming of. The country has never won a World Cup but have been the inaugural Champions Trophy winners.
