Australia (AUS) will face South Africa (SA) in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final 2025 at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. The highly anticipated duel will start on June 11 and end on June 15.
South Africa finished first in the WTC points table after playing 12 matches and winning eight. Under Temba Bavuma’s guidance, the Proteas have gone unblemished in Tests this cycle and will look to build on their dominance with a championship win.
Australia, on the other side, won 13 of 19 matches and advanced to the final as the defending champions. The Australians will try to defend their World Cup crown by winning what is known as The Ultimate Test against a tough South African squad.
Toss Update
South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and elected to bowl first, taking into account the overcast conditions expected to favour the bowlers. Australia captain Pat Cummins said he would have loved to bat and added that, having played at Lord’s before, the team is looking forward to enjoying the game.
Scott Boland misses the WTC Final at Lord’s
The right-arm pacer Scott Boland misses out on The Ultimate Test as Australia opt for a more experienced pace trio consisting of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Pat Cummins. Despite Boland’s impressive recent form in the red-ball format, the Australians have backed their senior bowlers for the big occasion. South Africa, on the other hand, will rely on Kagiso Rabada to lead the attack with the new ball, while Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi will support him from the other end.
What did the captains say?
Temba Bavuma, South Africa
Will have a bowl first looking at the overhead conditions. Looks like a good pitch. Too late to change the team, we have selected the best combination. All 15 of us are confident. We all have had some allegiance to Lord’s, the emotion will hit us when the anthems stat playing. It is a massive final, it should be a spectacle out here.
Pat Cummins, Australia
Happy to bat first. Looks like a good wicket with a few clouds. Prep wise it has been unreal, 15 guys working very hard for that title. (On the hectic schedule) You get used to it the more you are playing, we have had about 10 days prep and we are ready. Doesn’t feel like any extra pressure. We’ve been here before and we’ve won it. This week is all about enjoying the moment.
Playing XIs
South Africa: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne(wk), Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi.
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Beau Webster, Alex Carey(wk), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
India
