WTC Final Preview as SA fight history and perceptions against Australia, who have done it before on this stage.
South Africa fight history, perception, and opinion in this WTC Final preview as Australia look to do what they did in 2023 again.
Lord’s, cricket’s home ground, will host its first World Test Championship final. However, this will not be the first time that South Africa and Australia have faced each other in a Test match at Lord’s. In 1912, England won the fifth meeting between the two teams in a Triangular Test tournament featuring the then-only three Test nations in the world, which took place from late May to late August.
With just one prior championship—the ICC Knockout in 1998—South Africa is battling history. Despite winning seven Test matches after winning only one of their first five in the two-year cycle, they are also battling the idea that they did not deserve to be in the final due to an allegedly simple path. They are battling a well-known adversary as well. Over the past 30 years, South Africa and Australia have engaged in some of the most intense and thrilling Test matches.
However, their most recent gathering, which took place in 2022–2023, was maybe the least competitive in thirty years. And although Kagiso Rabada and others have hinted that things can become heated, the Australian squad that will play at Lord’s on Wednesday is not your average one.
Australia has adopted a completely different strategy, yet South Africa can feel the weight of history and the importance of this final on their Test future.
Before a final like this one, previous Australian teams may have been to Gallipoli or the Somme to experience the Anzac spirit. But for this Australian side, those days are long gone. As part of another laid-back and customised build-up, they gave five days of golf in northern Scotland precedence over a practice match, much like they did two years ago before the WTC 2023 final.
Most members of Australia’s team have been there before. The nucleus of the team is aiming for their fourth global title in three different formats in four years, so they know what to anticipate and how to manage the situation. They have one of the greatest bowling quartets in history, and Steven Smith, who has returned to his peak this year, is one of the greatest batsmen in history. In his last two world finals, Travis Head has also won hundreds of runs in a row.
The batting order for South Africa has been as anticipated. Although Australia’s quicks have seen plenty of Tristan Stubbs and Ryan Rickelton in the IPL, and Stubbs and Mitchell Starc have also played together, the majority of them will be unknowns of some kind to Australia’s attack, as only Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma have previously faced them in Test cricket.