WTC Final Highlights Day 4, SA vs AUS: Proteas crowned world Test champions with five-wicket win at Lord's

“I am just relieved. I was watching in the morning and kept thinking I don’t want to bat, I don’t want to bat. When I walked in the middle, I was the most nervous I have ever been,” says Verreynne, who hit the winning boundary.

“Amazing. Very nervous, but the way Aiden and Temba went about made us calm. Thank goodness we got over the line. The sun plays a massive factor, we got luckier of the conditions. It’s been 27 years and I am so thankful we got over the line,” says Bedingham.

Oh what a dramatic year of firsts this has turned out to be, with South Africa chasing down a challenging target of 282 with relative ease to defeat Australia by five wickets and win the third edition of the ICC World Test Championship!

With that, the Proteas have won only their second ICC event after the 1998 KnockOut Tournament! And it’s Kyle Verreynne who gets the honour of scoring the winning runs with a boundary off Starc! SA 285/5 after 83.4

Markram holes out to Travis Head at midwicket while attempting to guide South Africa over the line with a flourish. And he is congratulated by all the Australian fielders on his way back to the dressing room!

Markram does shift gears after Australian captain Pat Cummins opts for the second new ball, collecting a boundary first ball followed by three, guiding the ball towards cow corner on both occasions. Eight runs and a wicket from Hazlewood’s latest over. SA 276/5 after 81; need 6 to win

An outstanding delivery from Starc to get rid of his Delhi Capitals teammate, beating Stubbs’ defence and clipping the top of the bail between middle and leg. South Africa lose their fourth wicket with still some distance to cover! This right after the defending champions waste another review after a faint caught-behind appeal.

David Bedingham makes his way to the crease and Starc greets him with a jaffa, one that moves away late and nearly kisses the outside edge. SA 242/4 after 71; need 40 more to win

Drinks brought to the field at the end of the 69th over, with the Proteas needing another 44 to win with seven wickets in hand. Lyon concedes a couple of runs in his second over of the day, with Markram getting a thick outside edge off a drive that runs behind square.

He then decides to pull Starc towards deep square leg in the following over, gets a thick top-edge. Luckily for him, the ball lands in an empty space, allowing him a single. Stubbs decides to charge for a quick single in the final delivery of the over and is nearly run-out at the non-striker’s end. Some drama at the ‘Home of Cricket’ despite the Proteas still being in control. SA 238/3 after 69

Australian legend Matthew Hayden is not happy with how Cummins opted for defensive, spread out fielding when Markram and Bavuma were batting on Day 3. The South African pair added 143 runs together and remained unbeaten.

“You know, this defensive effort here from Australia, it was all about how they were going to take wickets and how they were going to do that early,” Hayden said after Day 3. “You know, when they got through to Mulder, they got through Rickelton, and they had to put at that point pressure on Bavuma. They had to put those catching cover areas, had to be less defensive, more attacking. Can you imagine if those first couple of balls had been chipped up? South Africa now it’s three down. Australia got control of the match. So for me, that was a trick.

“The drifting of the nature of the game just allowed the rotation of strike, allowed that partnership to grow and build in confidence, and it just got away from the Australian bowling lineup. Yes, it’s flat conditions, but you must take 10 wickets to defend the World Test Championship. You must take the top three out of play,” he added.

Daniel Vettori from Australian camp says the wicket at Lord’s has improved drastically for batters and there’s not much help for the bowlers. Advantage SA it seems!

Aiden Markram has potentially played the match-wining knock for South Africa. He received a hero’s welcome on his way back to the pavilion after the end of Day 3.