Hayden Shocked After WTC Final: 'Can't Even Remember Last Time Australia Lost'
Last Updated:
Matthew Hayden praised South Africa for their crucial breakthroughs in winning the World Test Championship final against Australia.
Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden praised South Africa for making crucial breakthroughs that led them to win the World Test Championship final on Saturday.
'The legacy of Australian cricket, with its results and performances in ICC events, shows how much this team excels on the big stage. I can't even remember the last time Australia lost at Lord's; it's been about 22 years of dominance here."
'So, for this South African team, which is relatively inexperienced compared to Australia in this World Test Championship cycle, this result is phenomenal. Take someone like Lungi Ngidi — almost unplayable in the first innings, and then in the second, he dismissed Steve Smith when it mattered most."
'That moment was huge. Smith is such an iconic figure in the Australian setup, and from there, South Africa kept the momentum going. That's what finals are about — finding a way," Hayden concluded.
Australia captain Pat Cummins conceded his team faced an insurmountable challenge after their World Test Championship final defeat to South Africa at Lord's on Saturday.
Cummins' side, the defending champions, were heavily favoured to prevail against a South African team lacking prominent stars.
However, they succumbed to a five-wicket loss as South Africa, spearheaded by opener Aiden Markram's superb 136 and captain Temba Bavuma's 66, successfully chased a target of 282 before lunch on the fourth day.
Australia held a 74-run first-innings lead but were unable to decisively pull away from the Proteas. South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada returned impressive match figures of 9-110.
'Things can change pretty quickly," Cummins admitted at the post-match presentation. 'Unfortunately, it was a bridge too far."
Steve Smith's first-innings 66 was the only half-century by a specialist Australian batsman in the match.
Smith, however, dislocated a finger dropping a slip catch and is now a doubt for the first Test against the West Indies in Barbados on 25 June.
(With inputs from Agencies)
First Published:
June 14, 2025, 23:17 IST
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
27 minutes ago
- First Post
Temba Bavuma: The poster boy of 'racial quota' criticism inspires South Africa past the 'chokers' tag
Temba Bavuma, whose appointed as South Africa's first black African Test captain in 2023 was met with scepticism, led South Africa to their first ICC world title on Saturday. read more Temba Bavuma holds the ICC Test Mace poses with the ICC Test Mace with his son in his arm after leading South Africa to a five-wicket victory over Australia in the World Test Championship Final at Lord's. Reuters It's been more than three decades since the late Nelson Mandela was elected President of the Republic of South Africa, marking the end of decades of 'Apartheid' rule in the country. Race, however, continues to dominate nearly every aspect of life in South Africa, including sport. Therefore, it hardly comes as a surprise that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) government's push for racial transformation in sports in the last couple of decades, particularly in 'white-dominated' games such as rugby and cricket, has been met with scorn and has been in the news for negative reasons more often than not. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD And while the likes of Hashim Amla and Kagiso Rabada quickly established themselves as stars of the game with their meteoric rise, with the latter still going strong, there were quite a few others, especially black Africans, who have struggled to shed the tag of being sport's equivalent of a 'diversity hire'. Fighting the 'quota' tag South Africa Test and ODI captain Temba Bavuma happens to be one of those cricketers ridiculed for years as a 'quota pick', whose place in the national team in any format was questioned time and time again since he made his international debut in the home Test series against West Indies in December 2014. Bavuma was second in line to take over the reins of the South African team, albeit in the white-ball formats. Quinton de Kock couldn't quite handle the pressure of leading the Proteas across formats after Cricket South Africa (CSA) decided to move on from Faf du Plessis as their skipper, resulting in the board looking towards Bavuma for an answer. And just two years after replacing de Kock as the white-ball skipper, Bavuma raised even more eyebrows after newly-appointed red-ball coach Shukri Conrad backed him to lead in the Test format over opening batter Dean Elgar. Bavuma, who hails from the Langa township near Cape Town, ended up making history by becoming South Africa's first black African Test captain. Temba Bavuma made history in February 2023 by becoming the first black African to lead South Africa in Test cricket. Reuters The Proteas had been playing cricket since the turn of the 20th century and were among the founding members of the Imperial Press Conference, which is currently known as the International Cricket Council. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD However, it took them more than a century – of which 22 years were spent in isolation – to appoint a non-white Test captain in the form of Ashwell Prince, who filled in for Graeme Smith during the 2006 tour of Sri Lanka. And even longer to appoint a black African. Then, of course, there was the question of how Bavuma would actually perform as the leader of a team whose fortunes had nosedived in the years following the retirements of legends such as AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, etc, towards the end of the 2010s. Elgar, after all, was removed as captain after losing away Test assignments against England and Australia, with the Proteas getting thoroughly outplayed in the latter and only escaping a whitewash thanks to rain. Bavuma silences his detractors in style Bavuma did prove his credentials as a leader by guiding South Africa into the semi-finals of the 2023 ICC World Cup on the back of a clinical round-robin campaign in which they won seven out of nine games, including a dominant victory over eventual champions Australia. As for the Test arena, his partnership with Conrad turned out to be an instant hit, with the Proteas going on to win eight out of their next nine Tests, with one draw and no defeats. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Hardly anyone had backed the South Africans, who had sent a second-string team to New Zealand led by Neil Brand that ended up suffering a 0-2 sweep, to even finish among the top four in the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle, let alone become the first team to qualify for the final. Also Read | After years of veering towards gates of cricketing hell, South Africa pitch up in paradise And that is exactly what they ended up achieving, on the back of seven consecutive victories – two of which came under Aiden Markram's leadership in Bangladesh. The critics, however, were still not satisfied and branded the Proteas as 'lucky' for progressing into the WTC final on the back of sweeping two-Test rubbers against teams that historically had struggled in South African conditions. Never mind the fact that CSA had little control over the scheduling of the WTC cycle in which the 'Big Three' arranged five-match series with each other and left precious little for other teams. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD And for a moment, expectations of Australia steamrolling South Africa in the WTC final looked highly probable after the latter were bundled out for a paltry 138 on Day 2 following a dramatic collapse in which they lost their last five wickets for just 12 runs. This South African team, however, is a different breed – one that has the sense of belief that was the hallmark of the legendary teams led by Smith and Hansie Cronje. It was that sense of belief that helped Bavuma and Co keep their nerves in check in a high-voltage ICC final and emerge triumphant by a five-wicket margin with a fightback for the ages . And to give an idea of why Bavuma not only belongs to the Test level but deserves respect, the 35-year-old fought physical pain caused by a hamstring injury and continued batting despite hobbling between the wickets to score 66 crucial runs, which resulted in a match-defining 147-run stand for the third wicket with Markram (136) that allowed the Proteas to chase down a challenging 282-run target with relative ease. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'We have prepared hard for this, we have worked hard for this moment. We came here with a lot of belief but also with a lot of doubters and we are happy that we were able to play well enough to get that type of result,' Bavuma said during the post-match presentation ceremony after masterminding what arguable is the greatest triumph in South African cricket history. 'For us as a country, here's an opportunity for us, as divided as we are at times to forget all of that, to rejoice in this moment and just be one. I'm sure the people back home will be celebrating it with us and you can trust that we will be celebrating it massively as well,' he added. The victory didn't just help South Africa bury the 'choker' tag for good, but has also forced the ICC and the 'Big Three' nations to take the Proteas more seriously as a Test nation. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD When @ProteasMenCSA win this apart from individual skills the leadership of Temba Bavuma has to be recognized. — Kumar Sangakkara (@KumarSanga2) June 14, 2025 It also highlighted the fact that the country's racial transformation in sports didn't just bear fruit in rugby, where the Siya Kolisi-led Springboks have won the last two World Cups and have surpassed New Zealand's All Blacks as the most successful team in the sport's history. Cricket has joined the bandwagon, and it is two Persons of Colour (POC) in captain Bavuma and coach Conrad who get the lion's share of the credit for transforming the Test team's fortunes. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The word 'Temba' translates to 'Hope' and that is exactly what the 35-year-old has instilled in the 'Rainbow Nation' with his heroics in London over the past four days.
NDTV
36 minutes ago
- NDTV
Records Galore At Lord's After South Africa Lift First ICC Title Since 1998
South Africa's first ICC title since 1998, breaking the 27-year-long jinx, a 5-wicket triumph in the World Test Championship final against Australia triggered several records to be toppled at the 'Home of Cricket', Lord's. It has been a year of breaking jinxes across different sports. Bologna lifted the title for the first time in 51 years, while Newcastle United ended the drought after 56 years. Tottenham Hotspur lifted the Europa League for the first time in decades, and Paris Saint-Germain got their hands on the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history. In cricket, Royal Challengers Bengaluru's 18-year wait ended after they trounced Punjab Kings to lift their first IPL trophy. Now, South Africa has etched its name in history after ending its ICC trophy drought, which lasted for 9,722 days. A 282-run target was the ask from the Proteas to chase down and end their decades-long title hunt. Aiden Markram didn't put a foot wrong and cleared South Africa's route that led to the WTC mace with a swashbuckling 136(207). The Temba Bavuma-led troops gunned down the 282-run ask from the Baggy Greens, pulling off their fifth-highest chase in Test cricket, with four of those five wins being against Australia. Notably, it is also the second-highest chase at Lord's. South Africa extended its winning streak to eight with another success story, which began against the West Indies last August. This is the second-highest win streak for the Proteas in the format, behind nine successive wins, which they achieved back in 2002-03. The eight-match win streak is the highest in the World Test Championship history, bettering India and New Zealand, who won seven consecutive fixtures each during the inaugural cycle. Bavuma continued to flaunt his flawless record as South Africa's Test captain, winning nine and securing one draw. Only England's Percy Chapman (9) has had as many wins as Bavuma in the first 10 fixtures as Test captain. Markram's 136 marked his third ton in the fourth innings, and only former captain Graeme Smith (4) had more for the Proteas in the fourth innings.
NDTV
36 minutes ago
- NDTV
Temba Bavuma Drops Bomb, Says Australia Used 'Choke' Word While Sledging South Africa In WTC Final
The Australian cricket team has traditionally been a part of several controversies purely because of their repeated acts that crossed the line while sledging the opponent team's players. Though the modern team, led by Pat Cummins, has been touted to be much different, even this side crossed a line during the World Test Championship final against South Africa. Seeing the Proteas inching closer to a victory on Day 4 of the WTC final at Lord's, the Australians are said to have used the dreaded word 'choke' in order to unnerve Temba Bavuma and his men. Australia seemed to have attempted to use all the tricks in their hat in order to disturb the Temba Bavuma- Aiden Markram partnership. During a chat after helping South Africa seal the WTC final, Bavuma said he could hear words like 'choke' while batting in the middle. "While we were batting, we could hear the Aussies using that dreaded word: choke," said Bavuma on BBC Test Match Special. "We came in with a lot of belief and a lot of doubters. We got ourselves into the final, and there were doubters as to the route we took. This win squashes that. Here's an opportunity for us as a nation, divided as we are, to unite." "As a country, it's a chance for us to rejoice in something, to forget about our issues and really come together. I hope it inspires and continues to inspire our country. For this group of players, there were a lot of doubters but the way we played would have wiped all of that out," the South Africa skipper added. Proteas spinner Keshav Maharaj also spoke on the 'chokers' tag that South Africa have had to live with for a long time. He is hoping the word would now be history. "It'll be great not to have to hear that again. To have got the job done and to get rid of that is quite a big thing for this team. All the questions that have been asked in the past have now been answered," concluded the sole centurion of the match. Australia skipper Pat Cummins, on the other hand, said that there could be the need of a 'change' as his team looks to bounce back. "We've obviously got a team here that got us to the final so it's about when do we feel it's the right time to change," Cummins, said. "After this Test match, everyone is thrown back into the conversation so it's a bit of a reset. It's probably more for me and the selectors to sit down and map it out."
