WTC Final 2025: Proteas Win 1st-Ever ICC Trophy in 27 Years, Bavuma Remains Unbeaten Test Captain

ICC WTC Final 2025, AUS vs SA, South Africa Wins First ICC Trophy: History was made at The Lords today as South Africa triumphed over Australia in the ICC World Test Championship Final 2025, ending Australia’s dream of back-to-back WTC titles. The Proteas, led by Temba Bavuma, clinched the prestigious mace and in doing so, maintained Bavuma’s unbeaten record as Test captain, an extraordinary feat in modern cricket.

On the other side, the loss marked a major blow to the Australian pace trio of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Pat Cummins, whose streak of winning finals across formats came to a grinding end.

South Africa has won its first-ever ICC trophy in 27 years, and the first ICC Test Championship trophy, after New Zealand (2021) and Australia (2023).

Rise of Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma

Aiden Markram, who was dismissed for a duck in the first innings of the final clash, stood tall while chasing 282. He scored 136 off 207 balls and got dismissed by Josh Hazlewood when the team needed only 6 runs to win. The whole stadium applauded Markram for his patient and constructive innings. Likewise, Temba Bavuma made a great impact as he played a crucial innings of 66 runs off 134 balls. The innings of Bavuma was so special because he was going through a hamstring when he kept on scoring runs and didn't even hesitate to take singles between the wickets.

Bavuma's Golden Leadership Continues

Temba Bavuma, who took over the reins of South Africa’s red-ball side with quiet confidence, has now led the team to multiple Test victories without a single loss under his captaincy. His calm demeanour and strategic acumen came to the fore once again as South Africa outplayed a star-studded Australian side in all departments.

Aussie Final Streak Snapped

Until today, Hazlewood, Starc, and Cummins have never lost a major final they featured in — having previously won the 2021 T20 World Cup, the 2023 WTC Final, and the 2023 ODI World Cup. The trio’s golden run was symbolic of Australia’s dominance in pressure situations. But this time, the South African top and middle-order, combined with sharp pace bowling and Bavuma’s field placements, proved too good.

ICC WTC Final 2025 Highlights:

South Africa won the toss in the final clash and opted to bowl first, when they restricted the Aussies to a score of 212 in the first innings. While Australia dominated the first innings with the ball, when they restricted the Proteas to a score of 138, they got dominated by them in the second innings when the team got bowled out at 207. It was then that the Proteas batters rose to the occasion, wherein the skipper Bavuma and Markram held the fort and didn't lose themselves to lead the team to victory. One will not forget the amazing spells of overs by Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, the bat by Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma.

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