3 major factors behind South Africa's WTC 2025 triumph
South Africa made history by winning the WTC 2025 Final against Australia on Saturday, June 14. The Proteas defeated the defending champions to win the World Test Championship for the first time in the tournament's history.
ICC launched the World Test Championship in 2019. This was the third edition of the mega event, and South Africa made it to the finals for the first time. Although the Proteas have a habit of losing the most important matches in tournaments, they overcame all odds to beat Australia at the Lord's Cricket Ground.
Aiden Markram's century and Kagiso Rabada's excellent bowling played an enormous role in South Africa's win in the WTC 2025 Final. Here's a list of three major factors that contributed to the Proteas' overall success in the competition that took place from 2023 to 2025.
#1 Temba Bavuma's captaincy in WTC 2025
When a player has captained a team in 10 Test matches and lost none of them, it shows that he is an extraordinary leader. The WTC 2025 Final between South Africa and Australia was Temba Bavuma's 10th game as the Proteas skipper.
Heading into the final, Bavuma's record stood at seven wins, zero defeats, and two draws in nine Test matches. Seven out of those nine Tests came during the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle. The Bavuma-led South African outfit recorded wins over India, West Indies, Sri Lanka (2 wins), and Pakistan (2 wins).
Bavuma utilized his resources to perfection and ensured that the Proteas won each of the five home Tests they played under his captaincy during the WTC 2023-25 cycle. Besides, Bavuma also led the South African side to an away series win against the West Indies.
The final against Australia was Bavuma's toughest test as a captain. He stepped up and delivered the goods once again, leading the team from the front by scoring a match-winning half-century while battling an injury in the second innings. This tournament has etched Bavuma's name in cricket's history books.
#2 Consistent performances from top-order batters
South Africa played only 13 Test matches in the WTC 2023-25 cycle, including the final against Australia. Still, they had not one, not two, but three such batters who finished with 700+ runs in the competition.
Temba Bavuma and David Bedingham topped the charts with 711 runs each. Aiden Markram scored 708 runs, including a crucial century in the summit clash against Australia.
South Africa did not get to play on too many batter-friendly surfaces in this cycle. With three batters combining forces to aggregate more than 2,000 runs in the competition, the bowlers' job becomes simpler.
#3 The pace-bowling duo of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen in WTC 2025
When Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel retired from Test cricket, their absence left a massive hole in the South African team. The Proteas tried out multiple fast-bowling options, but they could not find a proper pair due to injury or below-par performances.
In Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, the Proteas have a lethal pace-bowling duo now. This pair assembled midway during the WTC 2023-25 cycle and has given nightmares to multiple batting units.
Rabada and Jansen bagged a total of 89 wickets in the WTC 2023-25 tournament. Even in the WTC 2025 Final, the two pacers combined to take 13 wickets of the Australian team. It seems like South Africa have finally found their next-gen fast bowling pair in Test cricket.