World Test Championship final as it happened: South African top order crumble as Australian quicks fire late on day one
Latest posts
Latest posts
yesterday 3.08am
Stumps: South Africa 4-43, trail Australia by 169 runs
That's stumps. Bit going on!
Fourteen wickets fell on day one of the World Test Championship final, with South Africa 4-43 in response to Australia's 212. They managed two boundaries off the final two deliveries of the day.
Pat Cummins' men slumped to 4-67, fought their way back through gritty half centuries from Steve Smith (66) and Beau Webster (72), before losing 5-20. Kagiso Rabada was fabulous, snaring 5-51 in his comeback Test after serving a drugs ban.
Then it was Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood showing why they have been so dominant for so long. They produced so many good balls and were able to dry up South Africa's scoring to great effect. Cummins had the highest economy rate at two runs per over, which says it all.
There's every chance this match won't be heading to a day five. A crucial day of cricket looms tomorrow, with Australia hunting more quick wickets.
Thanks for joining. Make sure you check out our mastheads for all the latest news and analysis from Dan Brettig and Rob Harris at Lord's.
See you tomorrow night. Cheers.
yesterday 2.55am
Hazlewood has Australia's fourth wicket
Wow.
Josh Hazlewood joins the party by bowling Tristan Stubbs for two.
What a ball. In the corridor of uncertainty. Hits the seam and nips back in. Beaten all ends up.
Magic stuff from Australia.
South Africa 4-30
yesterday 2.47am
We're into the final 15 minutes
Can Australia jag another wicket?
You wouldn't back against this pace trio, who have been on song.
Nathan Lyon is also going to have a bowl.
South Africa 3-29
yesterday 2.33am
Cummins strikes with wicket of Mulder
BOOM. Clean bowled.
Wiaan Mulder plays all around a Cummins delivery and is clean bowled.
He's gone for six from 44 balls.
Australia right on top as the end of day one approaches. Superb stuff.
South Africa 3-25
yesterday 2.30am
Slow-going for South Africa as final half hour approaches
Australia aren't bowling too many bad balls at the moment. Scoring is hard to come by for the Proteas.
Cummins has 0-3 off four, while Josh Hazlewood now replaces Mitchell Starc, who finishes a magnificent spell of 2-10 from seven, including three maidens.
South Africa are 2023 from 15 overs. Going so slow is fine - they're not in a rush given Australia were bowled out for 212 - but they do run the risk of not being able to gain a lot in the final 30 minutes.
Because they are shutting up shop, more wickets could be potentially damaging. Maybe trying to take a few more runs on offer would be beneficial.
yesterday 2.13am
Bavuma almost dismissed
Temba Bavuma survives an LBW scare to a Starc inswinger. Very close. The not out decision would have remained had the Aussies reviewed that.
Great energy early from the 2023 WTC winners.
South Africa 2-19
yesterday 1.58am
Starc removes Rickelton as Australia pounce
Pat Cummins starts his spell nicely, with plenty of deliveries in the corridor of uncertainty.
At the other end, Starc is getting good away swing from the left-handed Ryan Rickelton. A little grin emerges after the South African plays and misses at one.
BANG. Not that time. Rickelton gets a big edge and Usman Khawaja takes a sharp catch to his right.
He's making his way back for 16 off 23 balls.
Starc is doing the damage.
South Africa in strife at 2-19
yesterday 1.49am
How many first innings runs will South Africa make?
yesterday 1.42am
'That is an absolute sitter': Carey misses simple chance
Oh my goodness.
Alex Carey has dropped one of the easiest catches you will ever see behind the stumps.
You have to think the ball wobbled a bit after it took the edge of Wiaan Mulder's bat there. Can happen. But jeez, that was bad. Starc can't believe it. Stunned, not angry.
yesterday 1.36am
Starc and Hazlewood going to work
Ryan Rickelton punches Starc down the ground for a boundary to get his innings going.
At the other end, Josh Hazlewood is getting good momentum as he charges in to the crease.
From all reports, Hazlewood bowled with excellent pace at the IPL. Appears to be in a decent rhythm as Australia search for wickets No.2 and No.3. If they can have South Africa three down early that will be massive.
South Africa 1-7
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Starc adds crucial runs to frustrate Proteas in WTC
Australia have frustrated South Africa by batting through the first session of day three, setting the Proteas 282 to win the World Test Championship final at Lord's. Starting day three of their second innings 8-144, Australia's plucky lower-order batted for 119 minutes and added another 78 runs during a Test where the bowlers have dominated. No.11 Josh Hazlewood (17) hung in there for 53 balls and was the last player out on the stroke of lunch, caught in the deep to give part-time spinner Aiden Markram his second wicket of the Test. Star quick Mitchell Starc (58 not out), batting at No.9, finished as Australia's top-scorer of the innings ahead of wicketkeeper Alex Carey (43). Starc faced more balls than any other batter during an innings in this Test, even more than Steve Smith's 112 for his 66 on day one. It was the 11th fifty of Starc's 97-Test career, but could be his most significant innings. If the match goes down to the wire, South Africa will be left to rue bowling 20 no-balls during the Test. Star Proteas quick Kagsio Rabada (4-59) finished with match figures of 9-110 after he destroyed Australia with 5-51 in the first innings to put his name on the Lord's honour board for a second time. "It would have been nice to get a 10-for, but I'd rather a win than a 10-for," Rabada said at lunch. To win their first ICC title since 1998, South Africa would need to post the highest total of the Test. They would need to pull off the equal second-highest successful chase in a Test at Lord's, with England running down 282 against New Zealand back in 2004. Back in 1984, West Indies in their prime successfully chased 342 against England at the famous ground. Australia, inspired by six wickets from Pat Cummins, rolled South Africa for 138 on Thursday. But the reigning champions fell into deep trouble in their second innings when they collapsed with 5-29 during a frantic 45-minute period. Victory in only the third edition of the WTC final would ensure Australia have landed four ICC trophies since November 2021. Fourteen wickets tumbled on Thursday, after 14 had already fallen on a dramatic opening day. Australia will back in their fearsome, experienced pace battery after Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood. While Cummins grabbed most of the wickets in the first innings, Starc and Hazlewood were relentless with their line and length.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Worst fears' as Aussies frustrate Proteas in World Test Championship final
South Africa was battling its 'worst fears' as Mitchell Starc's half-century subjected the Proteas to a frustrating start to day three of the World Test Championship final against Australia. After 14 wickets fell on another chaotic, ball-dominated day at Lord's on Thursday, Australia entered day three on 8/144 in its second innings, a shaky lead of 218 runs. Following so much batting carnage in the match to date, the Proteas would have expected to quickly knock Australia over and set about chasing down a total that would break their long drought in major cricket tournaments. The Aussies had other ideas, however, digging in doggedly to continually thwart South Africa and gradually build their lead past 250. It started well enough after Nathan Lyon (2), who will surely be more valuable with the ball in South Africa's second innings, only added one run to his tally before becoming Kagiso Rabada's ninth wicket of the match. That brought Starc (5 not out) and Josh Hazlewood (17) together and they bogged down for a 59-run stand for the 10th wicket, taking Australia to 207 and a lead of 281 when Hazlewood finally fell on the stroke of lunch. 'This is infuriating the South Africans,' Kevin Pietersen said of the partnership on Prime Video. 'Who would have thought the last partnership would have put on this many?' It all left South African captain Temba Bavuma struggling for answers. 'It's been an hour of frustration for Temba Bavuma in particular,' former Kiwi keeper Ian Smith said earlier on Prime. 'His worst fears, in terms of a low-scoring game, is that this would happen to him in this first hour. '(That) he would still, still be bowling. And that will be the case here at Lord's. 'An hour of play, painful play for South Africa, and they can mull it all over on a drink. They much need it.' Indian great Ravi Shastri used the same word when he described the scenario for South Africa. 'This is frustrating, there's absolutely no doubt about that,' he said. 'Look at the body language of the South Africans around the ground, you can see that. 'They're playing the waiting game, they know the importance of this partnership. Not often you chase down 250 in the fourth innings at Lord's.' Former South African captain Shaun Pollock was at least trying to find some positives from the impressive rearguard from Australia's final batting duo. 'If it's that difficult to get these batsmen out, (South Africa) have to believe the surface has flattened out,' he said. 'You have to go into the dressing room and say 'OK, not ideal, we would've liked to wrap it up'. 'But if they can look comfortable, then you have to have belief that when you get your chance, you can make it count.' The South African side has a long history of reaching the pointy end of tournaments, only to fall short. Ex-England skipper Nasser Hussain laid out the situation on Prime Video, pointing out the country's lone major title came at the Champions Trophy 27 long years ago. 'The run chase, if it does become mind games, Australia are serial winners in all formats,' he said. 'South Africa, we all know the history, they know the history. It was 1998 the last time they won an ICC event. 'Since then it's not like they've gone missing, they've had a fabulous record since then getting to semi-finals and finals and will be desperate to get over the line. 'Twenty-one semi-finals, four finals and that one win across men and women.' Hussain also took a little shot at fellow former English batter Kevin Pietersen as the Australian duo batted on. 'The best bit about this session is Kevin Pietersen went down about an hour and a half ago to be ready for a flash interview and he's been down there since,' he said with a chuckle. Fans watching on were also commenting on the extensive wagging of the Aussie tail on X. One tweeted: 'Crazy valuable runs these. Really gritty cricket from Australia.' A South African fan lamented: 'This is very frustrating, we are just not showing enough hunger for success.' Another cricket fan wrote: 'Every time the Australian team faced a batting collapse, Mitchell Starc and other lower-order players, who are not even called batsmen, brought Australia back to their fighting ways. They won't let you raise your head. This is Aussie mentality.' One fan declared: 'There is a very good chance that Starc & Hazlewood are winning the #WTCFinal for Australia with the bat.' A fifth stated: 'Aussies are built different!!!' If Australia is able to prevail and win this match, it will become the first team to win the WTC mace twice. In the short history of the event, New Zealand beat India by eight wickets in the 2019 final before Australia also overcame the Indians by 209 runs two years ago.
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
‘Came across as a bit dodgy:' How Australia avoided Lord's ‘handling the ball' meltdown
London: Australian captain Pat Cummins has revealed he would have withdrawn an appeal for handled the ball against South Africa's David Bedingham had the umpires not ruled dead ball as Alex Carey sweated on a possible catch. Two years on from the Jonny Bairstow stumping that had Lord's in a state of tumult, Carey was close by as Bedingham flicked away a ball that looked to have lodged in his pad flap. Such a lodging is a dead ball under the game's laws, but it happened quickly enough for some speculation about whether the Australians would have appealed. 'The umpires said it was dead ball first of all, but I think we probably would have withdrawn [the appeal], yeah,' Cummins said after play on a hectic day two of the World Test Championship final. Softly-spoken Bedingham was relief personified after admitting he had panicked with Carey so close by. 'I panicked big time, because Carey was standing up so he was quite close,' he said. 'The umpires said regardless I think it was dead ball, but the way I dropped the ball, picked up the ball, came across as a bit dodgy. 'But I'm glad they withdrew the appeal because there's more controversy in other stuff, so I'm glad nothing happened out of it really. The slip cordon just told me 'don't panic, just leave it', but in the moment I think I panicked big time, yeah.' Loading Carey returned to Lord's for the first time since the infamous Bairstow stumping – only to narrowly avoid being swept into another storm of cricketing controversy. In the final over before lunch on day two, Australia's wicketkeeper found himself again at the centre of an odd dismissal debate. This time, with Bedingham at the crease. The delivery from Beau Webster angled in and deflected off Bedingham's inside edge into his thigh pad. From there, it bobbled gently along the top of his right leg guard and started to fall away.
