South Africa Name Playing XI For WTC Final 2025 Against Australia: Ryan Rickelton To Open, Wiaan Mulder To Bat At...
South Africa on Tuesday announced a strong Playing XI for the much anticipated World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, starting on Wednesday, June 11 at the Lord's Cricket Ground.
Captain Temba Bavuma will lead a well-rounded South Africa lineup that has multiple options in all departments of the game.
Headlining the batting order is Ryan Rickelton, who has been South Africa's top-scorer in the WTC 2023-25 cycle, alongside Bavuma - not too far behind in the scoring charts, Aiden Markram, and Tristan Stubbs.
Interestingly, the first-time WTC finalists South Africa have decided to stick with Wiaan Mulder at No.3 after he was used at that position during recent Tests against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
"Mulder is quite young in that position. But I think having played with Mulder, having seen him and the way he has grown in the last two years within the red-ball format," Bavuma said.
"It's about giving him a lot more confidence, keep backing him and just allowing him to do what he does best. He has an opportunity in a pressure situation, but I think he can take comfort from the fact that the guys are backing him. We just want him to play his game," he added.
While Keshav Maharaj is the solitary full-time spinner, the bowling lineup also features Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen alongside Lungi Ngidi.
The South Africa captain explained the reasoning behind picking Ngidi over Dane Paterson,
"Probably one of the tougher decisions that has been made. We see what Dane Paterson did for us to the end of last season. But it was more from a tactical point of view. Probably a little bit more pace from Lungi, guess he's a bit taller as well," Bavuma said.
"Lungi also has a better record, not taking away anything from Patto. He (Ngidi) has the experience, he's played here before, not that Patto hasn't. But I think he (Ngidi) will complement that bowling attack a little more. We have a guy like Mulder, who can give us something similar like Patto. It was probably one of the difficult decision we had to make," he added.
South Africa Playing XI: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (c), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
27 minutes ago
- Mint
India will be well prepared but we know where we want to get to as Test team: McCullum
London, Jun 12 (PTI) England head coach Brendon McCullum believes India have arrived well-prepared and full of belief for the upcoming five-match Test series but his team is also clear about where it wants to be in the eagerly-anticipated showdown beginning June 20 in Leeds. The series will kick off India's new World Test Championship cycle. "They're an outstanding cricketing nation, who will come here with high hopes, and we are looking forward to seeing them," McCullum told 'Sky Sports Cricket'. England on the other hand have just completed a whitewash of the West Indies in a six-match white-ball series. Their focus now shifts to the red-ball format as they gear up to take India and also prepare for the Ashes later this year. "It's important the guys refresh. We know where we want to get to as a Test team." England will be without tearaway pacer Mark Wood, who has been ruled out of at least the first three Tests due to injury. Fellow quick Jofra Archer will also miss the opening Test, while Gus Atkinson is still recovering from a hamstring strain. Despite the setbacks, McCullum remains confident in England's bowling options. "There are some quality bowlers that are unavailable, but we have a nice, varied bowling attack with Chris Woakes, Sam Cook, Brydon Carse, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue for the high-pace element," the former New Zealand skipper said. "We have Shoaib Bashir, who is growing in Test cricket every day. We know we are going to be tested against India, and they will arrive prepared," he added. India begin a new era after Test retirements of veterans Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and R Ashwin. The team will be led by Shubman Gill and features a youthful lineup including Sai Sudharsan and Yashasvi Jaiswal. England all-rounder Jacob Bathel has been recalled and McCullum was all praise for the 21-year-old. "Bethell has a good life in front of him. For a 21-year-old, he's got a real poise, and that allows him to go out there and be present and show off his flair and talent," McCullum said. "The world is his oyster. He's already becoming a leader in the dressing room which is what you want," he added. McCullum also mentioned Jamie Smith and Ben Duckett as the talents to look forward to. "Jamie Smith and Ben Duckett have reminded me of Duckett and Zak Crawley in the Test game. We know how good Duckett is, but the power that Smith possesses is amazing. "These guys are fearless, and if you add the craft, then you hope you end up with a rounded player."
India.com
42 minutes ago
- India.com
WTC 2025 final: Despite finishing third, Team India get Rs…, Pakistan get only…
For the first time in WTC history, India may not be in the final, but they'll still walk away with a hefty prize for securing third place on the points table. The much-awaited Final of World Test Championship is being played between South Africa and Australia at Lord, London, started on June 11. The ICC has declared that the WTC 2023-25 cycle will have a record prize pool. Such a huge growth highlights the relevance of Test cricket in the international scene. An enormous exaggeration to the benefit of participating countries. India is not featuring in the WTC final first time. Having got to the final in the last two editions, they were third this time. It was a miserable exit to their tournament. The champion of the WTC 2023-25 will pocket a massive USD 3.6 million! The second place will win USD 2.16 million. Prize money which is a tremendous jump over the last cycle. After finishing as runners-up in both previous World Test Championship cycles—losing to New Zealand in 2021 and Australia in 2023—India missed out on the WTC 2025 Final for the first time in history. Despite the disappointment, the Men in Blue still secured third place, earning a record USD 1.44 million (Rs 12.30 crore). It is the first in the history of the WTC that teams that fail to make the top half of the table are earning hefty paychecks. Sri Lanka, the sixth placed team, will receive USD 840,000 with Bangladesh, the seventh placed side, pocketing USD 720,000. West Indies earned USD 600,000 as eighth placed team and even Pakistan, which ended up at the ninth position, will not go home without any cash in hand, as the team pocketed USD 480,000.
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Steve Smith goes past Sachin Tendulkar in elite list after gutsy fifty in WTC Final
Star Australia batter Steve Smith went past legendary India batter Sachin Tendulkar after his brilliant half-century on Day 1 of the World Test Championship (WTC) final 2025 against South Africa at Lord's, London. Smith played a gutsy innings of 66 (112) to rescue Australia from an early collapse and helped them reach 212 in their first was the second successive fifty-plus score for Smith in the WTC final after he scored a match-winning century in the last final played in 2023 against India. The Australia batter also registered his seventh fifty-plus score in the knockout stages of the ICC tournaments, and left Sachin Tendulkar in the list, who has six fifty-plus scores to his name in ICC now has the second-most fifty-plus scores in ICC knockouts after Virat Kohli, who comfortably sits at the top of the list with 11 such scores. In 13 knockout matches played in his career so far, Smith scored 650 runs at an average of 59.09 with two fifties and five half centuries. During the course of his innings, Smith also left behind Australia's Warren Bardsley (575 runs) to register most Test runs by a visiting batter at Lord's. Smith has now accumulated 591 runs at the iconic Lord's from ten innings at an average of 59.10 with two hundreds and three fifties to his highest score at the venue came during the 2015 Ashes, when he scored a magnificent 215 during the second Test. His second century at the venue came during the 2023 Ashes in another Smith forged a crucial 79-run stand with Beau Webster (72 off 92) to bail Australia out of trouble on Day 1 of the WTC Final against South Africa. The duo came together at the crease at the score of 67/4 and their stand was finally broken when Smith edged Aiden Markram to Marco Jansen at first his dismissal, Webster carried the innings ahead and helped the team reach 212. Later in the day, Australia got off to a terrific start with the ball as well, as Mitchell Starc (2/10) wreaked havoc on South Africa. They finished the day reeling at 43/4 with Temba Bavuma (3*) and David Bedingham (8*) at the crease.
