Weekly CRICKET Review - XCVI | Rainbow Nation finally did it! | ICC World Test Championship 2025

damithudaya (77)modAtlas Ambassador - LKin Steem Sri Lanka • 2 months ago

Hello, fellow Cricket Enthusiasts,

You already know that I am sharing a weekly wrap-up of what's happening within the Cricket community. It's the 96th edition now.

June 14, 2025 - A historic day and a historic win for the Proteas. After years of waiting, heartbreaks, and simply being the chokers, Bavuma and the team lifted a major ICC trophy for South Africa.

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The South African Cricket brand that was nourished for decades under some cricketing legends like Allan Donald, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn, Shaun Pollock, AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, etc, can be proud of this moment:

Personally, I was looking for this day for years, and I guess every Cricket fan is.

2023–2025 ICC World Test Championship - From June 2023 to June 2025, nine top teams played 69 matches in 27 series to secure a spot in the finals.

In the Group stage, each team played 6 series (3 at home, and 3 away), and according to the point system, this is how the standings were.

Points table

South Africa and Australia! It was predicted to be an epic and intense final at the Home Ground of Cricket, Lords.

The defending champions, Australia, who have a habit of winning ICC finals, and the team that hasn't won a major ICC trophy in 27 years (the 1998 Champions Trophy), but have a strong setup with confidence. They came so close and choked in the 2024 ICC T20 Finals as well.

Date: June 10–14, 2025
Venue: Lord’s Cricket Ground, London

South Africa Playing XI: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma, Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi

Australia Playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

The atmosphere was awesome, and these are the reasons to keep Cricket alive. Well, it was a tough pitch, and both teams had magicians to face any challenge.

South Africa won the toss and elected to field. Khawaja and Labuschagne were in the middle facing Rabada and Jansen. These two pacers were on the money, and the Aussies couldn't score freely. After facing 20 balls, Khawaja fell to Rabada for a duck. After that, Jansen also joined the hunt, and the Aussies' top order was gone cheaply. Anyway, Smith and Webster shared a partnership and scored fifties to set a competitive total.

Rabada was the hero, taking five wickets, and the Aussies' first innings was restricted to just 212.

Markram and Rickelton started the chase for Proteas. And right away in the first over, Starc did what he does best in the finals, taking Markram for a duck. Their first inning was horrible. The pace trio completely dominated and restricted SA to just 138 runs. Cummins was the headline with 6 wickets.
Being 74 runs ahead, the Aussies' second inning was also a disaster. They lost 7 wickets for 73, but the tailenders did a magic. It was Starc. Yeah, you heard right. He first had a 61-run partnership with Carey and then, for the last wicket, had a 59-run partnership with Hazlewood. Starc scored 58 runs not out in 136 balls, and Josh helped him by facing 53 balls. With their effort, Aussies scored another 207 runs, setting a target of 282 runs.

Well, in the fourth innings, that was hard. But they had more than 3 days. They lost their first two wickets for 70, and then the miracle happened. Markram and Bavuma came to the rescue. The two warriors of the team, the captain and the vice-captain, slowly and classically built the inning. These two carried the hope, putting up a 14-run partnership for the third wicket. Bavuma scored 61 runs, and it was Markram who held the nerve and scored the most important innings in SA Cricket history. His 136 runs will be in the memories for a very long time.

Aussies tried to put the pressure by taking a few wickets in the end, but this time, SA didn't choke. Verreynne took the final run and finished the chase before lunch on Day 4. These guys finally did it. Fans, players, and the cricket world were celebrating on the occasion.

After decades of waiting, coming so close, even having many world-class players, 5-feet Temba Bavuma led the team to this moment. He is an inspiration, carrying hope on his shoulders, even with many criticisms.

Overall Stats of 2023-2025 WTC cycle

Date - 16–20 June 2023 - 11–14 June 2025
Matches - 69 in 27 series
Most Runs - Joe Root from England is leading the chart with 1,968 runs. What a run he had.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%E2%80%932025_ICC_World_Test_Championship#Statistics

Most Wickets - Pat Cummins has taken 80 wickets, guiding Aussies to another final with example.

317 runs from Harry Brook against Pakistan is the Highest Individual Score.
8/46 by Noman Ali of Pakistan against England is the Best bowling figures in an innings.
Alex Carey has been involved in 98 wickets, which is the Most dismissals for a wicket-keeper.
Steve Smith has taken the most catches, 43
Kamindu Mendis from Sri Lanka has the Best batting average (Minimum 10 innings), 62.38
823/7d from England against Pakistan is the highest team score.