Courtesy: ICC
On Saturday, June 14, South Africa defeated Australia by five wickets in the World Test Championship (WTC) final 2025, to win their first ICC trophy in 27 years at the Lord’s in London. After Kyle Verreynne hit the winning runs at the home of cricket on the bowling of Mitchell Starc, the South African players came running onto the field to celebrate the epic moment with him and his batting partner David Bedingham at the other end.
In the WTC final 2025, South Africa were given a stiff target of 282 runs to chase down by Australia, but their batters made light work of the target as the pitch at the Lord’s improved for batting considerably in comparison to the first couple of days. Aiden Markram was the star of the show in the run chase, scoring 136 runs in 207 balls with 14 fours to earn the player of the match award in the presentation.
He stitched together a key stand of 147 runs for the third wicket with captain Temba Bavuma in the South Africa second innings, who literally batted on one leg. Earlier in the match, the key performer for South Africa was Kagiso Rabada, who took nine wickets in the match, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings, while the likes of Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, and David Bedingham, played key roles in setting up the victory as well.
It's special, it's an honour to lift the cup for everyone out here and back home: Keshav Maharaj
During the post-match interviews, most of the South African players were quite emotional to say the least, but none more than Keshav Maharaj, who was teary eyed while speaking to former captain Graeme Smith. He was quoted as saying, as per ESPNcricinfo, “It's special, it's an honour to lift the cup for everyone out here and back home. It's what the country's about, the unity among everyone in the last five days. We're very grateful for everyone here. I think the emotions would've spurred me into the right direction had I got into bat.”
“Thanks to everyone who's been supporting us, through adversity we've stood strong. We honour those who've come before us, may this be a stepping stone for greater things to come,” said Keshav Maharaj to the South African fans back home.
