London: South Africa won the World Test Championship against titleholder Australia by five wickets after knocking off the last 69 runs required on the fourth morning of the final on Saturday.
The Proteas achieved their first major cricket title in 27 years, sparking celebrations at Lord’s.
They moved from a portentous 213-2 overnight to 282-5, the second-highest successful run chase in the 141-year test history at the home of cricket.
“We’ve come a long way as a team, as a country,” an emotional Keshav Maharaj said. “We always say we want to be good people and play good. We’re moving in the right direction as a cricketing nation.
“After 25 years of pain, to finally get over the line is super emotional. We’re so grateful to have Temba (Bavuma, captain) to get us over the line. Diversity is our strength, so to see the crowd, they stand for the meaning of our rainbow nation. To lift the trophy is going to unite the nation even more.”
South Africa’s only previous global trophy was the Champions Trophy’s precursor in 1998. Before then and since, its history on the ICC’s biggest stages has been infamously cruel.
The venues and dates of their most heartbreaking losses include Birmingham 1999, Dhaka 2011, Auckland 2015, Kolkata 2023 and Bridgetown 2024.
But London 2025 will go down as one of the greatest days in South Africa sports, when its cricket underdogs grabbed the advantage and didn’t let go against one of the great Australia test sides.
South Africa was criticized before the final for its supposedly easier road — it didn’t face Australia or England in a series in the 2023-25 WTC cycle — but it has won eight straight tests, its second longest streak in history, and half of them away from home.
