SA vs AUS WTC Final 2025 Day 4 Highlights: South Africa beat Australia by 5-wickets at Lord’s to win World Test Championship

Things can change pretty quickly but unfortunately this was a bridge too far. There's always a few things, decent first innings lead and tried to bat them out, did not happen. A bit of both, it has been a wonderful two years, did not come together for this game, but maybe a bit of both. It was looking like the wicket flattened out but it can change here, unfortunately it did not. Lyono looked threatening but he did not get a wicket, Aiden was fantastic. South Africa were deserved champions, kept themselves in the game and pounced on the opportunity. I love Test cricket, it is the pinnacle. It is a fantastic kind of spectacle.

Not at all. Weird how things work out, you get a duck. Ultimately you get luck and it worked out. It will yes. Lord's is a place where every Test cricketer wants to play. Plenty of South African fans were there and it was one of those special days. It's not always one-sided, you absorb the pressure and it was about maximising the scoring options. He is one of the best in the world, we had plenty of banter with him, said to him he is one of the best. Tough to have got over the line. Lot of it came from him, he has always led from the front, found way a to score runs and those sort of knocks are something people will remember you for.

I can’t describe in words how I feel at this moment. Extremely happy. We played well throughout the season. We deserved to get into this position. There were people saying we didn’t play good enough oppositions but I think that’s rubbish. Australia are a really strong team and we had to be at our best to beat them. The last four days felt like a home game, thank you for turning up and keep turning up.

Really ecstatic about these guys. Something we don’t talk about is the bigger picture in South Africa, this one is for South Africa. We got the best of the batting conditions. When our two senior pros put that stand together, that’s where the game was won. I was the one to say Temba shouldn’t keep going but the partnership was critical, it didn't matter what the flow was, they know better than the coaches anyway.

I’m speechless right now. That spell the other day, broke the game open and I’m proud of that, that’s what kept me going. I’m very proud of what the boys have achieved, it’s been a lot hard work. The blood pressure is very high, we’re very proud of what we’ve achieved.

I don’t know what to say, was sitting there and just praying. Luckily we got the job done, just happy we won. There were a lot of nerves in the change room, lot of guys were quiet including me. To see the crowd here, supporting and cheering us, can’t ask for more. Unbelievable from Markram, what a player. Him and Temba, brilliant. That’s what dreams are made of, dreams are meant to be achieved and we’re going to celebrate.

Kyle Verryene pushes the balls through covers for a boundary to help South Africa win this game. They got there finally after years of heartache in the finals of these games. A spare thought to Aiden Markam, what a magnificent innings it has been from him. Even after that batting collapse in the third innings, Australia would have been quietly confident about pulling off the result, but Markram, with his innings, stayed in between. This is a special day for every South African who has been present at the ground. What a special day it has been, and hopefully it will inspire the South Africans to draw more towards Test cricket.

South Africa needs 14 more to get. This is going to be a moment in the history of Test cricket, especially for South Africa. Their health in Test cricket has been going through quite a difficult period, but this might be the moment where things might turn around in their history. Although they do not have many Tests lined up for this summer, this win might just ignite the inspiration for the future to play the format. What a turnaround it has been. Credit must be also given to Bavuma the way he lead this team. Questions were raised of the path they have taken to come here but on the day there are no more issues here.

The target is under 20 now. It is looking bleaker and bleaker for Australia. Usually, they are hardly on the receiving end of these games, but today they are. Their downfall has to be attributed to the second innings batting effort when they had a chance to make the most of the lead they had, but fumbled in the bowling of Lungi Ngidi and Rabada. They let the advantage slip away. It has been a vulnerable batting lineup for a while, but in this game, when it had to deliver the most, the demons have come out, especially in the techniques of the batters.

Bedingham has faced 21 balls and has looked to survive here, which is not a bad thing, but he needs to get a few shots away here. This is what Stubbs did, and a delivery with his name on it did come. Meanwhile, Aiden Markram from the other end is playing, continuing on his merry way. He is playing with the right tempo despite the partners from the other end losing their wickets. Australia have a few overs left to use the new ball but singles here ones and two here and there are doing the trick for South Africa.

We are seven overs away with the new ball. With the way things were going yesterday, it never felt like we would reach the second new ball of the innings; however, that is what wickets can do. No matter what the stage of the game is, they do turn the tide around and alter the run-rate. South Africa just cannot leave too many to get before the second new ball comes, because with a hard seam, the ball will start to misbehave more than it is doing. Especially, we might see a lot of uneven bounce, which might trouble the batters alongside the lateral moment.

Mitchell Starc has picked up a wicket. It was a wobble seam delivery which jagged back and Tristian Stubbs tried to defend the ball on the line, but it seamed back in sharply, took the inside edge and hit the bail of the middle and leg stump. That is a cracking ball, but is it enough to trigger an unlikely collapse we have to see? Bedingham has walked into middle, and it might not be a bad option that South Africa to try and get a few boundaries away just to put the pressure back a bit. Until that wicket fell things were looking good, but we are also closing in on the second ball here. South Africa want to get as close as possible before they get to that.

South Africa has played this quite maturely here. They could have easily tried to get these runs as quickly as possible, which they did not. They have played each ball on its merit and respected the conditions in the morning. Although Pat Cummins has picked up the wicket early in the piece, it might not have been a bad ploy for Cummins to start with Lyon, especially what has happened last evening. It just seems he has too few runs to play with and to win this game from this situation.

This is a nice innings from Tristan Stubbs. Not spectacular after that early wicket, if another wicket had fallen immediately, things might have gotten a bit panicky. But things did not manifest in such a way. Since Stubbs has walked into the middle, he has blocked an end up and claimed down the nerves, which is the right thing to do instead of the glory. The score is under 50, and South Africa knows they can in this game from here. All they need is a couple of good hours, but they just are taking it as close as they can and are playing proper cricket.

As we update, Nathan Lyon has come into the attack. He has 50 runs to play with, which is not a lot. However, a wicket here early in the piece might put pressure on the batters. There was a spell by Nathan Lyon back in 2014 where he picked up seven wickets against India. He did turn the game on its head once he started to get his lines and lengths. However, the tricky part here is Lyon tends to take 10-12 overs to get into his spell usually, and if we are going to go that long, this game will be well over. He has to strike right away.

One of the features today morning has been uneven bounce. While there were features of it yesterday, today it seems to be a lot more prominent. Last evening we have also seen Nathan Lyon getting a lot of turn from one of the ends, Pat Cummins might think to bring him in to do some bowling.

With the bit of moisture in the wicket, the ball is nibbling a bit here, which is always the case here, but the advantage South Africa has here is that the ball is a bit old and it is not doing much apart from the seam movement. And the new ball is still a long way away, and there is no way this game is going that far.

Tristian Stubbs has walked into the middle of what a moment this is for the youngster. To be in the middle of the ICC trophy win for South Africa after a long time. As per Australia, they have to hope that famous South African choke starts to kick in and they somehow manage to shoot themselves in the foot, which is highly unlikely.

Pat Cummins has created the breakthrough here. The ball pitched in and moved away, and took the outside edge of Temba Bavuma. That is a good wicket for Australia, but is it good enough for them to run through the side? Saving the remainder of the runs must be seen.

Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins have started the day here. It is interesting to see how they will try and operate as there is not much in help. There is no swing or seam moment on offer with this ball and they have to come up with the tactics of bowling cutters into the pitch and fielders in front of the wicket.

The sun is shining bright. And the day is set for a South Africa win here. While Bavuma is still hobbling Markram is looking fresh after the ton he scored

On Friday, June 13, 2025, South African opener Aiden Markram played a career-defining innings in the ICC World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord's. He scored a stoic century while chasing a tough target of 282 runs, becoming the first South African to achieve a century in an ICC final and only the third overall in WTC finals history. This remarkable comeback was especially significant as he had been dismissed for a duck in the first innings, helping South Africa to a commanding position, needing just 69 more runs for a historic victory with 8 wickets in hand at stumps on Day 3.

The third ICC World Test Championship cycle is wrapping up today, June 14, 2025, with South Africa needing just 69 runs against Australia to clinch a historic victory.

Despite their potential triumph, no South African batter, including their captain Temba Bavuma (who leads his team's scoring), is in the top 20 run-scorers for this WTC cycle.

Unsurprisingly, England's Joe Root has once again dominated, topping the run charts for the second consecutive cycle with 1968 runs and seven centuries. Root continues to be the leading run-scorer in the entire history of the World Test Championship. (Read more)

Langa, a Cape Town suburb, can trace its cricketing history back 150 years. It’s also the place from where Temba Bavuma emerged — SA’s first black Test batsman - here's a replug of a 2018 piece from Sandeep Dwivedi, tracing the making of South Africa's first full-time black captain. READ MORE

Pat Cummins is the most successful old-ball pacer in the WTC era. Lalith Kalidas recently crunched the numbers behind his success as an excellent new-ball seamer as well as a potent first-change threat. Will captain Cummins ring in some of his tricks to help Australia put a fight this morning at Lord's? READ MORE

Australia are staring at the possibility of a rare ICC finals defeat across 14 appearances in the last 50 years of international men's cricket. Only once before have Australia lost an ICC tournament final this century. A Michael Clarke-led unit slipped up in the 2010 T20 World Cup in Barbados against England before winning the ODI World Cup five years later at home. Since then, Australia had won the 2019 WC, 2021 T20WC, the 2023 WTC final and the 2023 ODI World Cup in succession. Australia had previously lost the 1975 ODI World Cup final to the West Indies and the 1996 ODI World Cup final to Sri Lanka. 

From Joe Root to Yashasvi Jaiswal, here's a look at the best performers with the bat in the third ICC World Test Championship cycle - READ MORE

Under sombre London skies, Aiden Markram reached a career-defining century. He had patiently awaited the perfect opportunity, with just a single run off his previous seven deliveries, when Josh Hazlewood finally bowled onto his legs in the penultimate over. Markram calmly flicked the ball to the boundary, his subdued celebration reflecting his mild-mannered personality. This was the moment he had always envisioned: scoring a pivotal innings for his country, fulfilling a lifelong promise, and reaching the peak of his unpredictable career. READ MORE

'The sight of Markram and Bavuma – a white former captain and a black present skipper – guiding the team through a tricky chase would have gladdened the divided society used to hearing whispers of racial tensions in the sporting arena..'

Sandeep Dwivedi writes on what the triumph will mean for South Africa and Temba Bavuma, their first full-time Black captain. READ MORE 

His mercurial returns and truckload of talent continue to form a frustrating watch for fans, but Aiden Markram displayed his mettle in style on Friday with a stylish hundred that kept the Aussies at bay. With his third century in the fourth innings of a Test, Markram has already vaulted to joint-second on the all-time charts.

The prospect of a landmark day awaits one and all at Lord's as South Africa stand 69 runs away from history. 69 runs that could end up defining the story of Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram's cricket careers and the entire South African unit that believed their shot at an ICC title would come true one day, only a year on from their T20 World Cup final heartbreak. But it's the shrewd and battle-hardened Aussies they would have to thwart on the way to the finish line. Pat Cummins and Co. were negated for a chunk of Friday, but do they have some invincible tricks left in their artillery, one that could make the afternoon all the more interesting?