South Africa show how they "earned" their way into the final

ICC World Test Championship

Day 2: South Africa finally unchoked an ICC final?

AUS 1st innings 212 (Webster 72, Smith 66, Rabada 5-51)

RSA 1st innings 138 (Bedingham 45, Bavuma 36, Cummins 6-28)

AUS 2nd innings 207 (Starc 58*, Carey 43, Rabada 4-59, Ngidi 3-38)

RSA 2nd innings 213-2 (Markram 102*, Bavuma 65*, Starc 2-53)

About 5 days back, we saw Carlos Alacraz show the world the power of believing when he won the French Open after being 3 match points down in the 4th set. Yes, it's a miracle we have seen many times in sports before but what was special about the win was that Alcaraz was facing a opponent at the peak of his prowess. To snatch a victory from that situation was a spectacle that drew the whole world's attention. Today it wasn't just an individual but a team that has been labelled the C-word every time a new ICC tournament arrives. Not today though. Today was different. Today was a new dawn in South African cricket.

It's days like these Aiden Markram would have foreseen when he picked up the bat first time. It's days like these which makes us love Test cricket more. It's days like these where we questions the decisions of players opting for retirement to prefer T20 leagues over International cricket. Or maybe it was written in the cricketing books as a day of reckoning for Markram. He already did something in the afternoon session his more skilled teammates were struggling to. After getting the wicket of the ominous Steve Smith in the first innings, he came back to employ his third best skill and ended the last wicket partnership of 59 for Australia which had already put the game in Australia's lap.

The day welcomed both the teams with clear blue skies. Yes the venom in the pitch had disappeared and as soon as Rabada removed Lyon lbw, South Africa would have fancied chasing around 225 on what suddenly looked like a placid wicket. A pitch that saw 28 wickets fall on the first two days just witnessed 4 wickets on Day 3. But the killer blow never came. Captain Bavuma tried all the weapons he had up his sleeve but the resolve shown by Hazlewood and especially Starc, who hit his eleventh Test half century did not give their opponents an inch. The famous Australian grit was on display yet again and it looked like the anticipated was bound to happen. Not to Markram though. He brought his team the much needed wicket at the stroke of lunch with a daunting target of 282 in their sight.

Markram wasn't done. He saw his opening partner edge one behind, another one gifting his wicket away after a 61-run partnership, took some body blows and was visibly exhausted by the end of the day. But he was standing firm at 102*, his eighth Test century of his career and clearly the most important one. Keeping his company was his captain at 65*. Bavuma embodied the spirit of Test cricket with full aplomb and led from the front after suffering from hamstring issues early on his innings. The hunger in his eyes was evident. He could have retired himself but he knew the importance of his wicket. He believed it was duty to see his team through. He stayed on fighting the pain with only one goal in mind, the WTC trophy.

South Africa are now just 69 runs away from their first ever ICC trophy. We have seen New Zealand break the ICC trophy jinx with a WTC title in 2021. It sure seems to be the same case for the Africans boys. They know the drill. Just knock away the required target slowly in small patches. Markram owned the day today. He will be looking to own the title tomorrow. Oh Test cricket, you beauty!! We are hungry for more.

References : ESPNCricinfo

By Shekhar Tomar

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Talking Points: Indian Test Squad for 2025 English Tour

ICC World Test Championship On the afternoon of 24th May, the 18 member Indian Test Squad for the upcoming English tour has been announced by the BCCI. Headed by chief selector Ajit Agarkar , the squad is headlined by the newly announced red-ball captain Shubman Gill  and his deputy vice-captain and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant . The squad also includes a call-up for middle order batsman Karun Nair after a long hiatus and a fresh inclusion of the Tamil Nadu southpaw Sai Sudharsan . Below is the whole squad announced for the visit to England next month: Batters: Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran. Wicketkeepers: Rishabh Pant (vc), Dhruv Jurel Allrounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Nitish Kr. Reddy Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav Gill as Captain Ever since Rohit Sharma  announced his Test retirement last month, there has been severa...
Read more

Smith and Webster's contrasting journeys against some excellent bowling display

ICC World Test Championship Day 1: Advantage Australia. AUS 1st innings 212 (Webster 72, Smith 66, Rabada 5-51) RSA 1st innings 43-4 (Rickelton 16, Starc 2-10) trail by 169 runs It's no secret how much Steve Smith loves run scoring at Lord's. He now has the most runs by an overseas batter at the home of cricket with a highest of 215. So when the South African captain elected to bowl first on a typical Lord's wicket, all eyes were on Smith again when he walked out at 16-2 after Kagiso Rabada burst through with two wickets in four balls.  Smith was in his elements right from the start, tough to digest given he mentioned before the match he did not pick up the bat after his Champions Trophy dismissal of a full toss in the semi-final against India. The same however, cannot be said about Beau Webster who was very uncomfortable and honestly lucky to end up with 72 given the bowling team missed a chance to review a plumb lbw decision. Webster though showed remarkable improve...
Read more

Indian disaster at Headingley shows their inability to groom a capable bowling unit

ICC World Test Championship The Day 5 of Headingley Test could have been labelled as a miracle if this any other team would have done what this English Team did. However, for this Bazball driven team, it was just another day at the office. We had enough days to reflect on the result of the first Test and it still feels like an anomaly. Maybe for England. But for India it was just one thing: a catastrophe .  This has happened before in exactly the same manner. In 2022 , at Birmingham. It was deja-vu.  Jasprit Bumrah  was the captain then,  Shubman Gill  it was this time. Gill couldn't have had a tougher introduction to Test captaincy and the challenges it brings. It might be harsh to judge him from what we saw on the field in the first Test but one thing is certain what everyone feared, he looks out of place as a captain. This is also because rather than grooming a proper Test captain, his appointment to the post was abrupt. The selection committee is the sole b...
Read more

ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 Cycle: Preview Part 3 (The Frontrunners)

ICC World Test Championship In this article, we will be previewing the Nine Teams part of the next ICC World Test Championship Cycle starting next month. The Nine teams that has been part of the competition since it's inception include Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies. The other Test playing nations not part of this cycle are Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe. South Africa Where they finished Cycle 1:  5th Place (P13 W5 L8)
Read more

ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 Cycle: Preview Part 2 (The Underachievers)

 ICC World Test Championship In this article, we will be previewing the Nine Teams part of the next ICC World Test Championship Cycle starting next month. The Nine teams that has been part of the competition since it's inception include Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies. The other Test playing nations not part of this cycle are Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe. Sri Lanka Where they finished Cycle 1:  7th Place (P12 W2 L6 D4)
Read more

Australian top order face the heat against a sorry West Indies

ICC World Test Championship Here wo go again! The runners up from the last edition will start this new cycle on the Caribbean shores with a three-match series.  Pat Cummins '  team had a great chance of going back-to-back but a spirited and courageous South African team took away the honors chasing down a target of 282 in the fourth innings, something which has now become a norm in English conditions. Setting aside the heartbreak of the final, Australian team has been the best team of the World Test Championship thus far with a title victory and a runner-up medal in three editions so far.   They will be facing another consistent side on the other end. A side that has consistently finished one above the bottom in all three WTC editions. A side that has managed to achieve some unbelievable victories but still end up at the eighth spot every time. What's new for them this time? Well let's start with the newly appointed captain Roston Chase . This series will be his fir...
Read more

ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 Cycle: Preview Part 1 (The Wooden Spooners)

ICC World Test Championship In this article, we will be previewing the Nine Teams part of the next ICC World Test Championship Cycle starting next month. The Nine teams that has been part of the competition since it's inception include Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies. The other Test playing nations not part of this cycle are Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe. Bangladesh Where they finished Cycle 1: 9th Place (P7 L6 D1)
Read more

New Zealand stopover in Ireland for a rare fixture before facing tougher challenges

Image
New Zealand tour of Ireland The Kiwis are bracing up for a busy period of International cricket on foreign shores. Before donning the whites on their tour of England for a three-match series, they will stop over for some red-ball practice in Ireland. A four-day Test match is scheduled to take place between both the teams in Belfast starting this Wednesday.  With the ICC laying out a plan to include all twelve full-member nations in the next World Test Championship, these rare fixtures against strong teams are extremely crucial for a side like Ireland. The Irish have a short-lived history in this format since debuting against Pakistan in 2018. They lost their first 7 matches but then completed a hat-trick of wins against Afghanistan and Zimbabwe only to be pegged back by a 2-0 defeat in Bangladesh last November. They have generally given a good account of themselves whenever they have played in this format even coming close to a shock win against England at Lord's in 2019 only to fa...
Read more

Indian team to embrace the English challenge with some new faces and some old horses

ICC World Test Championship About 312kms away from the iconic Lord's cricket Stadium where the historic South African triumph took place, India will start their latest journey against arch rivals England. It will be the start of this new cycle for both teams who will be vying again in a five-match affair to ensure they get an early advantage in the World Test Championship 2025-27. This will be the fourth straight time these two teams will be facing each other with India winning the two home series while the last one in England was an exciting 2-2 draw completed over a gap of one year in 2022. There is a subdued sense of feeling about the arrival of Indian team on the English shores this time. No major advertisements, less curiosity about the team's net sessions and absence of fan queues lined up to welcome the India team travelling through different venues. This is not a surprise for some as the team is playing their first red balls series since the shock retirements of their ...
Read more