In the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) Final at Lord’s, South African captain Temba Bavuma produced a fighting knock that brought his team close to a historic triumph before falling early on Day 4. Chasing 282 for victory against Australia, the Proteas are very close, needing just 35 more runs with Aiden Markram unbeaten on 122.
Bavuma’s match-winning knock on Day 3 helped the momentum in the Proteas’ favour. Despite suffering a hamstring injury, the South African skipper finished unbeaten on 65* at stumps, stitching a crucial 147-run partnership with centurion Markram.
With South Africa resuming on 213/2 and just 69 runs away from their target, the overnight pair of Markram and Bavuma were looking to continue with their innings. However, it didn’t take long for the Aussies to get an early breakthrough.
In the 59th over, Australian skipper Pat Cummins’s delivery drew the right-handed batter into a defence, taking an edge to Alex Carey behind the stumps. Bavuma walked back after 66 off 134 balls, receiving a standing ovation from the Lord’s crowd. His innings, laced with five fours.
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South Africa on brink of creating history
At the time of dismissal, the Proteas’ scorecard read 217/3, with Markram still at the crease even as Tristan Stubbs fell later to Mitchell Starc. Meanwhile, the South African skipper now has 1,992 runs in the World Test Championship, surpassing Dean Elgar as South Africa’s leading run-scorer in the competition. This WTC cycle alone, he has hammered 711 runs at an average of 59.25. Overall, the 34-year-old has 3,708 Test runs at an average of 38.22, including four centuries and 25 fifties. Against Australia, he averages 41.78 across nine Tests.
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