WTC Final, Day 3: Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma guide South Africa towards historic victory over Australia

South Africa ended Day 3 on 213/2 after 56 overs, requiring only 69 runs to clinch the final of the 2023-25 cycle of the World Test Championship at Lord's. It will be no short of a miracle if Australia manage to bowl the opposition out to defend their title.  

The Proteas did not take long to attain their first breakthrough of the morning. Australia's ninth wicket fell in the form of Nathan Lyon (two off 13). Mitchell Starc was joined by Josh Hazlewood. They got to 179/9 after the first hour of Day 3, extending their lead by quite a bit than what most would've expected.

Starc got to his 11th Test fifty on the fourth ball of the 64th over of the innings. With that, Australia got past the team 200, and the fast-bowling duo became only the second pair with three fifty-plus partnerships for the tenth wicket in Test cricket. BJ Watling and Trent Boult were the first to reach the milestone.

The resilient 10th wicket stand came to an anticlimactic end when Aiden Markram struck on the stroke of Lunch to get rid of Hazlewood (17 off 53). A proper drag-down wide of off stump was slapped to Keshav Maharaj's hands at cover. Kagiso Rabada (4/59 in 18 overs) was left stranded as he ended up with nine wickets in the match.

Requiring 282 to win and ample time to do it, the South Africans were not really off to the start they would've liked. Ryan Rickelton (six off eight) fell on the first delivery of Starc's second over. A series of boundaries saw South Africa get to 39/1 after seven overs.

Starc was given a rest after three overs with the new ball. He struck immediately on returning. The experiment of promoting Wiaan Mulder up the order did not really work. Although he did contribute with 27, the wicket falling only meant that there was added pressure on Markram and the batter replacing Mulder, Temba Bavuma.

The skipper was given a massive reprieve on his eight ball. Steve Smith was off the field after dropping Bavuma off the bowling of Starc. He tried reverse-cupping the ball. However, due to the short distance at which he was standing, the ball came a bit too fast and ended up dislocating his little finger on his right hand.

Markram ended up one short of a half-century at Tea. Bavuma, despite struggling with a bit of cramping, provided good support from the other end. A whole lot of rotation of strike from both the batters meant Australia could never really stem the flow of runs.

Nathan Lyon was replaced by Travis Head in an experimental switch after the former just wasn't able to trouble the batters enough. However, he was back on after a couple of overs of Head going for eight runs in total. A graceful flick by Markram brought up a well-deserved ton on the penultimate over of the day.