South Africa set a strong start in the 2025 ICC World Test Championship Final against the defending champions Australia, as the Baggy Greens lost four wickets before the lunch break. The first session ended with a stunning catch by the Proteas wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne, which dismissed the dangerous cricketer Travis Head. 

South Africa chose to field first after winning the toss in the 2025 ICC World Test Championship Final on Wednesday morning (June 11), which Lord's (London) is hosting. 

South African pacers provided a strong start for the Proteas as Australia were struggling at 67/4 at the lunch break. Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen bagged two wickets each in that session, while the Aussie batters completely struggled to handle the early pressure. 

See Also: 'GOAT of Tests' - Fans react as Steve Smith scores half century in SA vs AUS WTC Final 2025

2025 ICC WTC Final: Kyle Verreynne's stunning catch sent Travis Head back cheaply

The first session of the 2025 ICC WTC Final ended with a wicket of dangerous Aussie left-handed batter Travis Head. The left-arm fast bowler Marco Jansen bowled a leg-side delivery, which Head had a little touch on that travelled to the leg side. South African wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne quickly reacted to it and dived to his right side to take a stunner with his right hand to dismiss the dangerous Aussie batter. Head only managed to score 11 runs, as the South Africans were celebrating that big moment. 

 

 

 

 

 

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2025 ICC WTC Final: Kagiso Rabada took two wickets in an over

In the first session of the 2025 ICC WTC Final, South Africans were excellent at catching, as they counted every opportunity with their best responses. While the pacers provided strong starts with their tight line and lengths, the Proteas fielders were also very disciplined to support the bowlers. 

At lunch, while the defending champions Australia were struggling at 67/4, Steven Smith was batting at 26 runs, the only Australian to reach the 20-run mark. Opener Usman Khawaja failed to open his account, while the no.3 batter Cameron Green, making his Test comeback after more than a year, scored four off three balls, as Kagiso Rabada took two wickets in the seventh over of the match.

Later, Jansen dismissed another Aussie opener Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head for 17 and 11 runs, respectively. 

Now, world cricket is ready for the 2025 ICC World Test Championship Final, where South Africa will face the defending champions Australia at Lord's in London, starting on Wednesday (June 11). Just before the beginning of the Final, a former World Cup winner predicted the favourites. 

It is the third ICC World Test Championship Final. New Zealand won the first Final, Australia won the second Final, and India were runners-up on both occasions. While Australia are ready to defend the ICC WTC mace, South Africa are dreaming of winning their first ICC title after the ICC KnockOut Trophy 1998.  

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Australia will come prepared: Harbhajan Singh on 2025 ICC WTC Final AUS vs SA

Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh, the ICC World T20 2007 and ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 winner, believes that Australia are the little favourites for the Final. 

The former off-spinner said on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network, “Australia will come prepared. They’ve played a lot of cricket in England - Ashes, the last WTC Final - and that experience will count. They understand these conditions better than South Africa. Plus, they’re a champion side. The difference lies in how you handle pressure during big matches, and Aussies are masters at that. That’s why they’ve won more trophies than anyone else."

Australia didn't lose any series in the 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship, while they drew twice and won four others, including drawing the Ashes 2023 in England and winning the 2024-2025 Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home. 

Harbhajan Singh about Australian captain Pat Cummins

Harbhajan also praised the Australian captain Pat Cummins and pointed out the reason for being a very special captain for the Baggy Greens. 

Harbhajan added, “Cummins is one of those leaders who brings everyone together. More importantly, he's a proven match-winner with great command in the dressing room. When your team respects and rallies behind you, you win more matches. That’s what makes him a very special captain for Australia."

On the other hand, in the 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship, South Africa suffered only one Test series defeat, against the hosts New Zealand, while winning four Test series and drawing the one remaining home Test series against India. Although South Africa finished the 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship as the table toppers based on "percentage of points won out of points contested", they didn't play any Test series against two top Test teams, Australia and England, in this cycle.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has brought the promo for the 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship Final, where the top two table toppers, South Africa and Australia, will face each other from June 11 at Lord's in London.

In the video, Australian and South African players have been captured in the focus-looking ahead of the third ICC World Test Championship Final, while the Championship . It will be the first World Test Championship Final for South Africa, and they are facing the defending champions Australia, who are eyeing their second WTC title. 

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2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship Final: South Africa eyeing their first ICC trophy after more than 26 years

South Africa men's national cricket team has only one ICC trophy, which is the ICC Champions Trophy 1998 title. They are waiting for about 27 years to win another ICC title, while their closest one in this period was the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2025 runners-up. Now, the 2023-2025 ICC World Championship points table leader have the great chance to end their long and frustrating wait for their second ICC trophy. 

2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship Final: Australia are ready to defend

Meanwhile, Australia won the 2021-2023 ICC World Test Championship Mace after beating India in the Final. It was their first ICC WTC trophy, as they became the first team to win all four ICC trophies. 

Before Australia, New Zealand became the first team to win the ICC WTC title after winning the inaugural ICC WTC Final (2019-2021 edition) by beating India. 

Two teams. One dream 👑

South Africa and Australia are ready to carve their names in Lord’s history 🤩#Cricket #CricketReels #WTC25 pic.twitter.com/FgeID10JXv

— ICC (@ICC) June 9, 2025

During the league stage of the 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship, South Africa earned 100 points after 12 Tests (PCT 69.44%) with eight wins, one draw, and three losses, and the second-placed Australia secured 154 points after 19 Tests (PCT 67.54%) with 13 wins, two draws, and four losses. 

The crucial Group B match in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Australia vs South Africa, has been washed out in rain without a toss, as rain dominated the match, and the match officials had no chance to make the game available. This abandoned result has put the group in an interesting position. 

Pakistan's Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium hosted the Australia vs South Africa match on Tuesday (February 25), which was the second game for this venue in this tournament. On the previous day (February 24), the Group A match Bangladesh vs New Zealand was played, where New Zealand chased the 237-run target in 46.1 overs after losing five wickets. With that result, New Zealand and India both have secured their places in the Semi-finals of the tournament, and all the teams of Group A still have one match to play. 

See Also: Cricket is Over in Pakistan: Experts Criticize Champions Trophy Host After India Loss

South Africa and Australia both have three points after the abandoned result

The Group B situation is in a very interesting position. South Africa started the tournament with a thumping 107-run win against the tournament debutant Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the Australia vs England match experienced record tournament totals in both innings, as Australia successfully chased the 352-run target and won by five wickets. The winners of the Australia vs South Africa match would have the advantage to qualify for the Semi-finals of the tournament, but as the match has been abandoned, both teams are currently in uncertain positions, despite having the upper hand in the points table. 

The Group B match Afghanistan vs England is going to be crucial for the group. Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore will host this match tomorrow (February 26). It is a must-win game for both teams to stay relevant in the competition. According to the weather forecast, there is very little chance of rain interruption in the game. Here are the possible scenarios for Group B in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 after the Australia vs South Africa fixture has been abandoned. 

• The winners of Afghanistan vs England will have an almost open chance to qualify for the knockout stage, but the winner also must win the other remaining match of the group stage. By winning the other match, the winning side can avoid the net run-rate calculation.
• The losers of Afghanistan vs England will have no more chance to advance to the Semi-finals. 
• If the Afghanistan vs England match ends with no result, the teams in the Group B points table won't change their position, and Afghanistan and England only add one point each. 
• If all the remaining Group B matches end with no results, South Africa and Australia will advance to the Semi-finals as the first and second-placed teams, respectively. 
• Both South Africa and Australia now only have to avoid defeats in the last round of the group stage to qualify for the next round. 
• In the case of no more no results in Group B, if South Africa and Australia both lose their remaining fixtures in the group stage, the team with the highest net run rate among them will advance to the Semi-finals along with the other team who will manage two wins in the group. 

ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Group B - Points Table (Updated till February 25, 2025)