Australia vs South Africa ICC World Test Championship Final 2025
Australia vs South Africa ICC World Test Championship Final 2025 is going to be held at Lord’s, London, from 11 June 2025. Australia again qualified for the final of the ICC World Test Championship cycle 2023-25. They are going to defend the title against South Africa in the WTC final. South Africa is at the top of the list as they won 8 matches while playing 12 with a 69.44 winning percentage. Australia made their way to the WTC final 2025 by 13 matches from 19 with a 67.54 winning percentage. Australia is the defending champions of the WTC as they won the previous edition of the WTC 2023 against India at the Oval. South Africa, on the other hand, is confident of winning their first ICC title in over two decades.
South Africa’s Journey to the WTC final 2025
South Africa started their road of the WTC 2025 cycle with the Test series at home against India. Proteas played two Tests against India. Both teams have won one contest, and the series has been drawn. Then, South Africa played their second series against New Zealand of the cycle. They lost both these Tests against New Zealand. Neil Brand and Dane Piedt were the highest wicket-takers for SA in this series. David Bedingham made 268 runs for SA in this series.
After that defeat, South Africa visited the West Indies to play a two-match Test series in August 2024. West Indies and South Africa played their first match at Port of Spain, and unfortunately, this was drawn. Top performances of Tony de Zorzi and Keshav Maharaj helped SA to seal the series against the hosts. Keshav Maharaj took 13 wickets in four innings and Tony de Zorzi made 163 runs in this series.
South Africa travelled to Bangladesh in October 2024 for 2 Tests and won both contests to seal the series. Kagiso Rabada and K Maharaj took the highest number of wickets in this series. Tony de Zorzi made 248 in three innings during this visit. The Proteas won their 3rd series of the WTC 2025 cycle at home against Sri Lanka. They won both the Tests while Marco Janson took 14 wickets. Temba Bavuma, the star batter of SA smashed 327 runs during this series.
They won their last series of the WTC cycle 2025 at home against Pakistan, and this was their seventh consecutive win. Ryan Rickelton made 267 in just three innings during this series. Proteas were staged at the top of the table for the ICC World Test Championship 2025 final after winning both contests against Pakistan.
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Australia’s Journey to the WTC final 2025
Australia started their journey to WTC 2025 cycle while playing the first Test of the Ashes series in June 2023. They won the first two contests, but England fought back, and the series has been drawn. Mitchel Starc took 23 wickets in 7 innings while Usman Khawaja made 496 in 10 innings in this series. In December 2023, the experienced Australian team, hosted a Test series of 3 contests against Pakistan. Australia won all the three contests due to struggling batting of Pakistan. Mitchell Marsh was the leading run-scorer with 344 runs in this series while Pat Cummins took 19 wickets.
West Indies visited Australia in January 2024 for a Test series. Australia claimed the opening contest of the series. But West Indies leveled the series due to their brilliant knocks in the second contest. Josh Hazlewood became the leading wicket-taker with 14 wickets in 4 innings. New Zealand hosted Australia in February 2024 but visitors sealed the series 2-0 despite great bowling by Matt Henry. Cameron Green made 238 in this series.
Dominant Australia hosted India in November 2024 and won the series by 3-1 despite 32 wickets of Jasprit Bumrah. Travis Head made 448 in 9 innings in this series. Australia won the last series of the WTC 2025 cycle against Sri Lanka in February 2025. Usman Khawaja made 295 in just 3 innings in this series. This was 3rd consecutive series win of Australia to secure their second position in the ICC WTC final 2025.
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South Africa’s Squad
South Africa announced a 15-member squad for the ICC World Test Championship 2025 final.
Temba Bavuma (c),
Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi,
Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne, David Bedingham,
Tristan Stubbs, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada,
Keshav Maharaj, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy,
Dane Paterson, Lungi Ngidi
Key Player Analysis
Kagiso Rabada
The most talented and experienced bowler with genuine pace, Kagiso Rabada, will be the key bowler for SA. He played 70 Tests and took 327 wickets, and he is the 2nd in the world in Test rankings. K Rabada performed with great pace and played a key role for SA final qualification of the WTC 2025. The star bowler took 47 wickets in 10 Tests, including 3 five-wicket hauls during this cycle.
Australia’s Squad
Pat Cummins (c),
Sam Konstas, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja,
Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Josh Inglis,
Marnus Labuschagne, Scott Boland, Beau Webster,
Mitchell Starc, Alex Carey, Matt Kuhnemann,
Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon,
Travelling Reserve: Brendan Doggett
Key Player Analysis
Travis Head
The star batter, Travis Head, has a lot of experience playing on big stages. He performed outstandingly during this current cycle of the ICC WTC 2025. Travis made 1177 runs with three centuries during this cycle of the WTC 2025 and helped a lot to qualify for the final. He also has great experience in abroad conditions. His 163 was a great historic knock against India in the previous WTC 2023 final.
Both teams have the potential to win the title, but Australia’s experience on mega stages gives them an upper hand. Australia has a strong pace attack in the world and also has experienced classic batters. They played a lot of the Ashes series in England, which is also an advantage to them.