South Africa overcame Pakistan by two wickets in a breathless conclusion at Centurion on Sunday to win the first Test and become the first team to qualify for the ICC World Test Championship Final 2025 at Lord’s from 11 to 15 June 2025, barring any subsequent point deductions.
Chasing 148 for victory, the home side battled back from 19 for three and 99 for eight to edge over the line on day four, thanks to a scintillating, unbeaten 51-run ninth wicket partnership between Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada.
The victory came as the Proteas extended their superb run of form in Tests to six successive wins, helping them reach 66.67 percentage points atop the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) standings with just one Test to play as the cycle draws to a close.
June’s Ultimate Test represents a week-long celebration of the longest format, and will see South Africa compete for the first time at the event, where they will be hoping to emulate previous winners from the southern hemisphere – New Zealand in 2021, and Australia in 2023.
With their opponents yet to be decided, the matchup promises to be a thrilling spectacle, pitting the two best Test teams against each other following a dramatic two years of intense competition at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground – the venue for some of the most memorable moments in the sport’s celebrated history.
Be the first to comment