South Africa's road to WTC Final: Crucial draw vs India, domination at home

India Today

11 hours ago

Temba Bavuma-led South Africa have reached the final of the World Test Championship for the first time. The Proteas qualified for the final of the tournament on the back of heavy domination at home in the final months of the competition.Bavuma's South Africa are set to face defending champions Australia, who dominated the competition this season. The pinnacle of their prowess was seen against India, where they hammered the Rohit Sharma-led side 3-1 at home. Australia would have won the 5-match series 4-1, if not for rain in the Brisbane Test match.advertisementHowever, we are focusing on South Africa at the moment, and we will recap the series that they have played in this edition of the tournament and check how they qualified for the final of the World Test Championship 2025.South Africa vs India [1-1, Home]
Temba Bavuma's side began their World Test Championship campaign with a two-match home series against India in December 2023. On pitches that were very difficult to bat on, the Proteas flexed their muscle in a convincing victory by an innings and 32 runs in the first Test at Centurion. Retiring Dean Elgar scored a tremendous 185 with the bat, while Kagiso Rabada and Nandre Burger ran through the Indian lineup.The second Test match, however, was full of controversies, majorly due to the nature of the pitch in Cape Town. This match lasted just one and a half days - 642 balls to be exact. India came back strongly to secure a commanding seven-wicket win as the Proteas witnessed back-to-back batting collapses.advertisementIndia levelled the series as long-time South Africa batter Elgar confirmed his retirement after an 86-Test career.South Africa vs New Zealand [0-2, Away]South Africa's Test series against New Zealand created major controversy. This is the series where South Africa did not send its main players owing to the SA20 competition. This is the series that raised questions on the survivability of Test cricket as South Africa were ready to let go of the Test Championship to promote their homegrown T20 competition.Young Neil Brand took the reins and, as expected, lost both matches against the 2021 WTC champions. The Kiwis secured a massive win by 281 runs at Mount Maunganui, followed by a seven-wicket triumph at Hamilton in the second Test, securing their first-ever Test series victory against South Africa.The first Test at Port of Spain ended in a draw, extending South Africa's winless run in Test matches to four.The second and final match of the series proved to be a tense, low-scoring contest. Chasing 263 runs for victory, West Indies pushed for a result but fell 40 runs short, thanks to a brilliant performance by Keshav Maharaj, handing South Africa a much-needed win.South Africa vs Bangladesh [2-0, Away]advertisementAiden Markram took over as Test captain for the series in the absence of the injured Temba Bavuma. Dewald Brevis was called in as Bavuma's replacement.In the first Test at Mirpur, South Africa cruised to a comfortable seven-wicket win, largely due to Kyle Verreynne's impressive 114 off 144 deliveries in the first innings.The second Test at Chattogram saw an even more dominant South African performance, as they overwhelmed Bangladesh by an innings and 273 runs. Tony de Zorzi's brilliant 177 laid the groundwork, while Kagiso Rabada shone with a five-wicket haul in the first innings.South Africa vs Sri Lanka [2-0, Home]With victories over West Indies and Bangladesh, South Africa had an outside chance of reaching the WTC Final 2025. By this time, India had been clean-swept by Australia at home, which meant that they had to do the unthinkable against Pat Cummins' Australia away from home.At Durban, South Africa started strong and secured a convincing 233-run victory in the first Test. Although Sri Lanka showed signs of a fightback in the second Test at Gqeberha, the home side swiftly took control to complete another dominant series win.South Africa vs Pakistan [2-0, Home]South Africa's final assignment of the 2023–25 World Test Championship cycle saw Pakistan visit for a two-Test series in December 2024. By this time, South Africa really believed, as India had shown telltale signs of faltering against Australia by a huge margin.advertisementThe first Test at Centurion was a close affair. Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada's heroics with the bat bailed the hosts out in the final innings of the match. Chasing 148 runs on a spicy wicket, South Africa clinched the match with just 2 wickets in hand.The win in the Boxing Day Test ensured that South Africa became the first team to qualify for this year's WTC Final.Eyeing a seventh consecutive Test win and looking to conclude their campaign in style, the Proteas delivered a commanding performance in Cape Town. Ryan Rickelton enjoyed his finest outing as a red-ball international, scoring an unbeaten 259 off 343 deliveries, while Temba Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne also notched centuries in the first innings.Their efforts powered South Africa to a comprehensive 10-wicket victory, ending their World Test Championship cycle with 100 points.Marco Jansen was named Player of the Series for his 10 wickets across the two Tests.