South Africa are playing the ICC World Test Championship final against Australia currently at Lord's. The side under Temba Bavuma are bowling first after winning the toss.
By the end of the first session, they took four wickets leaving Australia reeling at 67 runs for the loss of four wickets. The bowlers have given the Proteas an upper hand very early in the Test match.
This is the second major final for South Africa, who in previous ICC tournaments have lost every failed to get past the semi-finals. They lost to India in the T20 World Cup final in 2024 and now under Bavuma, have the chance to win the ICC World Test Championship final.
Also Read: Who Will Win WTC 2025? Aakash Chopra Makes His Bold Predictions!
Mony Panesar Gives Spin Bowling Masterclass For WTC Final
Former England spinner Monty Panesar, in an exclusive interview with Indian Express, spoke about the WTC final and said who has the edge in the game.
He spoke about the various facets of the game before choosing his winner for the final. Being a former spinner himself, Panesar spoke about who between Nathan Lyon and Keshav Maharaj, will exploit the conditions better at Lord's.
"They are going to have similar roles probably. Lyon will be bowling it slightly quicker than Maharaj, but they bowl kind of similar lines, wicket to wicket, very attacking. Lyon will probably go around the wicket, use that angle quite effectively against the right-handers. Maharaj can get that ball to hang in the air slightly longer than you expect. I hope he has a good shape on the ball because, he could be quite effective against Australia at Lord’s because the odd one turns" said Panesar.
Panesar Backs Proteas To Beat Aussies
He concluded by saying that though Australia are the favourites to win the WTC final, South Africa winning the final will be an incredible story. He further said that the big three Australia, England and India have been dominating world cricket and a Protean win under Temba Bavuma would be unassuming.
"Australia, obviously, are the favourites but I hope South Africa win because we often talk about the big three (India, England and Australia) and it’s nice to see another team winning. We don’t talk much about someone like Bavuma when it comes to captaincy leadership; he’s quite an unassuming sort of background guy. It would be a wonderful cricketing story for the world to see that, well, here’s a team like South Africa that plays less Test matches compared to India, Australia and England but has won the WTC. Hopefully then the ICC will think on how to get the countries that play less Test cricket to play more" Panesar concluded saying.
Also Read: WTC 2025 Final: All you need to know about South Africa vs Australia WTC Final at Lord's
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