WTC Final 2025: Match Preview, South Africa vs Australia

After another two-year cycle, the cricket fraternity comes to a standstill as two behemoths of the red-ball format compete at the Home of Cricket in the quest to win the World Test Championship (WTC) final. While Australia have a chance to become the first-ever two-time WTC winners, South Africa will look to end their 27-year wait for an ICC title.

Pat Cummins & Co. will head into the WTC final at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground on Wednesday, June 11, as the favourites. They are the defending champions, having beaten India two years ago at the Kennington Oval in London.

Australia started their WTC 2023-2025 campaign in stunning fashion with wins in the first two Ashes Tests in England. However, the Three Lions bounced back strongly to win three out of the last three Tests, and squared the series. However, Australia retained the coveted urn.

Australia's next assignment was a three-match Test series at home against Pakistan. This turned out to be a one-sided affair as Australia whitewashed the Men in Green 3-0. However, Australia's following Test assignment wasn't one they would want to look back at. The defending WTC champions beat the West Indies in Adelaide but suffered a shock defeat in a day-night encounter in Brisbane. The spoils were shared in the two-match series.

Australia went across the Tasman up next to face arch-rivals New Zealand in a two-match Test series. The tourists won the first Test comprehensively by 172 runs in Wellington. However, in the next game, they were in dire straits at 80/5, chasing a target of 279. Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, and Pat Cummins showed tremendous grit and determination to take the team home. Australia carried the momentum from this win into the Border-Gavaskar series and outclassed India.

Australia managed to defeat the Asian giants at home in a Test series for the first time since the 2014-15 season. The Baggy Greens defeated India 3-1 to reclaim the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 10 years. They also knocked India out of contention for a spot in the WTC final during this series.

Australia rested some of their key players, like Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, for the Sri Lanka tour that followed. Under Steve Smith's leadership, Australia whitewashed the Lankan Lions 2-0.

Meanwhile, South Africa had a horrendous start to their WTC campaign. After winning the first Test in Centurion in a two-match series against India, the Proteas suffered three consecutive defeats. The run of losses began with India winning the second Test in Cape Town in just one and a half days. Dean Elgar retired from international cricket, drawing the curtains down after playing 86 Tests for his country.

South Africa faced massive criticism during their subsequent Test series, where they travelled to New Zealand to play two games. Cricket South Africa (CSA) decided against sending its main players as the series coincided with the SA20 competition. A young South African side lost 0-2 to the Kiwis.

South Africa would then head to the West Indies to play a two-match Test series. The first Test in Port of Spain was drawn. However, the visitors returned to winning ways, picking up a tight win by 40 runs in Guyana to take the series 1-0.

Temba Bavuma's men went to Bangladesh and defeated the Tigers 2-0 with convincing wins in Mirpur and Chattogram. The winning streak stretched to five when South Africa beat Sri Lanka at home by a 2-0 margin. They made light work of the island nation, registering one-sided wins in Durban and Gqeberha.

Their most recent Test assignment was against Pakistan at home. They won the first Test at Centurion by the skin of their teeth. The two-wicket win ensured them a place in the WTC final for the first time. The home side celebrated this achievement with a 10-wicket win in Cape Town to whitewash the Shan Masood & Co in the red-ball series.

Usman Khawaja is the leading run-getter for Australia in the ongoing cycle. He has amassed 1422 runs from 37 innings at an average of 41.82. Meanwhile, Cummins (73), Mitchell Starc (72), and Nathan Lyon (66) are second, third, and fourth on the list of leading wicket-takers in the WTC 2023-25 cycle, respectively.

For South Africa, it has been mostly a team effort, with different players putting their hands up in different matches. David Bedingham is the leading run-getter, having scored 645 runs from 21 innings at an average of 33.94. However, skipper Bavuma has been the man in form despite missing five games in the cycle. He has 609 runs from 11 innings at 60.90. On the bowling front, Kagiso Rabada has been South Africa's spearhead, having taken 47 wickets from 10 matches at an average of 19.97.

Match Details

Probable Playing 11s

South Africa

South Africa's bowling department looks much stronger than its batting. It will be interesting to see whether they back all-rounder Wiaan Mulder to bat at No. 3 or bring in specialist batter Tony de Zorzi in the line-up. However, the second option will leave the Proteas with four frontline bowlers, and Aiden Markram will have to roll his arm over if and when the seamers need a breather.

Predicted XI: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (C), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (WK), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi

Australia

Australia are likely to have Marnus Labuschagne opening the batting with Usman Khawaja after it has been confirmed that Travis Head will move back to the middle-order. Meanwhile, Cameron Green has returned to the side after undergoing back surgery earlier this year. He is expected to play as a specialist batter.

Predicted XI: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey (WK), Beau Webster, Pat Cummins (C), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood