ICC World Test Championship Final 2025
2025 · 2 teams · Test cricket
Tournament Overview
Series Overview
The 2025 ICC World Test Championship Final was played at Lord's Cricket Ground in London from 11 to 14 June 2025, bringing together Australia — the defending WTC champions and tournament favourites — and South Africa, appearing in their first WTC Final. South Africa had qualified through a superb 2023-25 WTC cycle, winning key series against their rivals. Australia, captained by Pat Cummins, batted first and were dismissed for 212, before South Africa replied with 138 — conceding a first-innings deficit of 74. Australia posted 207 in their second innings, setting South Africa a target of 282. In one of the great fourth-innings chases in Test cricket at Lord's, South Africa were guided home by Aiden Markram's magnificent century — making him the first South African to score a hundred in a WTC Final and only the third player overall to achieve the feat. South Africa reached 282/5, winning by 5 wickets. Pat Cummins produced extraordinary figures of 6/28 in Australia's effort to defend the total, but the South African batting lineup proved equal to the challenge. For South Africa, the victory was a culmination of a long rebuild since their world-ranked peak in the early 2010s. It was the Proteas' first ICC title since the Champions Trophy in 1998, and was celebrated with enormous national pride. The Markram century will be remembered as one of the defining innings of his generation.
Key Highlights
- 1South Africa won their first-ever WTC title — and their first ICC trophy since 1998 — in a stunning victory at Lord's
- 2Aiden Markram scored a century in the final — the first South African to do so in a WTC decider
- 3South Africa chased a target of 282 in the fourth innings to win by 5 wickets — a composed and clinical run-chase
- 4Pat Cummins took 6/28 for Australia — the first captain with a six-wicket haul in an ICC final — but it wasn't enough to prevent defeat
- 5Australia were the defending WTC champions (2023), making South Africa's victory a genuine title upset