A new dawn — how braveheart Bavuma and his men defied the odds

The Hindu

17 hours ago

As Temba Bavuma strolled the Lord's outfield on Saturday afternoon, the mace in one hand and young son Lihle in his other arm, a sea of emotion would have swirled through his mind. Just moments previously, he had helped end years of heartbreak, masterminding an extraordinary five-wicket conquest of Australia in the final of the World Test Championship. Bavuma wasn't just the captain of the all-conquering South African team, he was its leader in every sense of the word. It wasn't just redemption time for the Proteas, but also vindication of Bavuma's faith in himself, of the establishment's faith in him.
There are certain tags that simply refuse to go away. They surface without warning, and then develop a life of their own, mushrooming beyond imagination to stick like an unrelenting leech. Most of these labels are negative, insulting even. Until 14 June 2025, South Africa were saddled with the unflattering tag of 'chokers'. No more, not ever.
So often have South Africa stumbled with the finish line in sight that even they might have started questioning themselves, wondering nervously if they had it in them to breast the tape. Successive generations of wonderful cricketers – and let's make no mistake, South Africa have had them by the bushel since their return to international cricket in 1991 – found the knockout stage of ICC tournaments a step too far. Their more recent meltdown came just under 12 months back, in the final of the T20 World Cup in Bridgetown. With 30 needed off 30 deliveries to best Rohit Sharma's India, the Proteas found ways and means to self-destruct; India were brilliant, of course, spearheaded by that champion paceman, Jasprit Bumrah. But they will be the first to admit that South Africa's generosity and munificence too played a big part in their seven-run heist.
South Africa's captain that fateful Saturday afternoon was Aiden Markram, a terrific batter who, somewhat like KL Rahul, doesn't have the numbers that his skills demand. After 46 Tests, he only averages 36.50, far too few for someone of his ability. The Kensington Oval must have been fresh in memory when Markram approached the Lord's showdown, believing that he owed his team a few. A first-innings blob wouldn't have helped, but he came roaring back, first with the scalp of Steve Smith with his off-spin, then with a century for the ages that helped South Africa mount the joint second-highest successful chase at Lord's.
Hot favourites
Australia were the clear favourites going into the match, despite a rejigged batting order with Marnus Labuschagne opening for the first time. Put in by Bavuma, they scrambled to 212, then rolled their opponents over for 138 on the back of Captain Fantastic Pat Cummins' six-wicket burst. The defending WTC champions (at the time) are masters of tightening the screws, of elevating capitalising on front-running into a fine art. A lead of 74 was seen as decisive. The consensus was that anything above 250 in the fourth innings was mountainesque. And so, when last pair Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood combined for a 59-run stand to boost the total to 207 and their overall advantage to 281, well…
South Africa had to battle not just the weight of Lord's history, their own previous failings and a fired-up Australian outfit, they also had to explode the myth that they had taken the 'easy' route to the title round. All six of their series in the two-year WTC league stage were two-Test affairs. They didn't face either Australia or England, and they were held to a 1-1 draw by India in January 2024 after suffering a two-day hammering on a terrible surface in Cape Town. No one seemed to care that they had won seven Tests on the bounce to secure their place in the final, or that India sealed their own fate by losing six of their last eight Tests, including three in a row at home to New Zealand.
Bavuma and the other senior players were nonchalant outwardly at the barrage of criticism and thinly veiled innuendo, but they must have been hurting at the casual dismissal of their roaring run. The only way to silence the critics was with a chase for history to remember. Who better to mastermind it than the captain that let it slip away in Bridgetown and the captain who had won eight of his nine previous Tests in charge?
Game-changer
Bavuma joined Markram in the second innings with South Africa on 70 for two, a decent start but with plenty of work to do. He should have been dismissed for two but Smith, donning a helmet and standing close in at second slip because numerous deliveries previously had 'died', was taken by surprise by the speed and height with which the edge rushed to him. Not only did the former skipper shell the catch, he also dislocated his right little finger and took no further part in the match. It was a significant development for more reasons than one.
Where Bavuma lived to fight another day, Australia were deprived of the Smith wisdom that Cummins has so come to rely on. Perhaps there would have been no change in the script even otherwise, but Australia seemed a little flat and bereft of inspiration in Smith's absence. No exaggeration – one only has to go back to Indore and March 2023 to realise how transformed a side Australia were when Smith took over the captaincy after Cummins was unfortunately forced to return home owing to his mother's illness.
Bavuma's delight at being let off quickly turned to despair when he did his left hamstring, a little later. He had only reached six and South Africa were nearly 200 away, so he wasn't abandoning the ship.
The 35-year-old has a history of injuries, but this wouldn't bury his ambitions. He hobbled along, overcoming the pain barrier, refusing to let physical discomfort or the constant chirping from the Australians – he later revealed that the Aussies had invoked the 'choke' more than once – disrupt his concentration.
Where Bavuma was the braveheart, Markram was magnificent. Poised and assured, he gave the impression that he would see it home. There was a certain sense of calm that percolated through to the balcony at Lord's, where his excited but subdued mates willed him on. Willed Bavuma on. Willed the chase on. They were soon reminded that they were not in a minority; Lord's was awash with the Protean green, while in the commentary box and in the stands, former skippers Shaun Pollock, Graeme Smith and A.B. de Villiers stood in solidarity. As did most of the cricket world, which believed that South Africa deserved their place in the sun now, more than ever before.
When Kyle Verreynne brought up the winning run, tears flowed unchecked. Tears of ecstasy, of course, but also of relief. The drought had ended, the monkey had been flung off the back. One couldn't shake off the feeling that even while history was being made, this was also history in the making. It will take a bold individual to preclude South Africa collecting more silverware in the future.
🏆 CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD! 🇿🇦
A 5 wicket victory! The Proteas Men have conquered the Test arena, winning the ICC World Test Championship 2025 Final against Australia at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground 🏟️🙌
Undeniable. Unstoppable. Unrelenting. History made at the Home of… pic.twitter.com/twI21o7GmV — Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) June 14, 2025
As in such instances, South Africa had numerous heroes – not just in the final, but throughout the campaign. Their bowling superstar was the outrageously gifted and unassuming Kagiso Rabada, who came into the title clash with a cloud hanging over his head. Rabada had just served out a one-month ban (during IPL 2025) after testing positive for a banned recreational drug.
He admirably took responsibility for his action, but he was also convinced that as silly as that might have been, it would not define him. He got down to business emphatically, with five wickets in Australia's first innings and four in the second. If Marco Jansen had been his ally the first time around, then it was Lungi Ngidi who became his partner in crime in the second dig, breaking the game open with the scalps of Smith, first-innings top-scorer Beau Webster and Cummins.
On their way to Lord's, South Africa had eked out performances from so many – Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs and David Beddingham and Wiaan Mulder, and also from the superb left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, who wept unashamedly after victory had been achieved. There was Markram, yes, but few shone brighter than Bavuma, him of the hamstring strain of the final which didn't prevent him from helping Markram add 147 for the third wicket.
The captain, who has won nine and drawn the other in his first 10 Tests at the helm (no other Test skipper has escaped defeat in his first ten outings), averaged 59.25 in the two-year WTC cycle culminating in the Lord's faceoff. He might be the shortest physically on the park, but stands tallest among his colleagues, his legend having grown manifold following his heroic batting at Lord's. In the 33 years since they first took part in an ICC event – at the 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand – South Africa had lost one final, 12 semifinals and two quarterfinals.
Amidst this heap of rubble, their triumph in the inaugural Champions Trophy (then known as the ICC KnockOut Trophy) in Bangladesh in 1998 under Hansie Cronje has almost been forgotten. The roars of this seismic success under Bavuma, however, will reverberate for a long, long time.
It's been a difficult time for the country on various counts but this win, fashioned by men from varied and diverse backgrounds, will offer hope. What Bavuma's boys have shown is that unity of purpose, a common goal and a burning fire can make even the most impossible appear fairly commonplace.
Cricket in South Africa won't reach the dizzying heights of popularity it enjoys in India, but now more than ever, it looms as a vehicle for change, as a beacon of optimism.
That alone makes the end of a long, agonising wait well worth it.