South Africa on Tuesday announced a strong Playing XI for the much anticipated World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, starting on Wednesday, June 11 at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.
Captain Temba Bavuma will lead a well-rounded South Africa lineup that has multiple options in all departments of the game.
Headlining the batting order is Ryan Rickelton, who has been South Africa’s top-scorer in the WTC 2023-25 cycle, alongside Bavuma – not too far behind in the scoring charts, Aiden Markram, and Tristan Stubbs.
Interestingly, the first-time WTC finalists South Africa have decided to stick with Wiaan Mulder at No.3 after he was used at that position during recent Tests against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
“Mulder is quite young in that position. But I think having played with Mulder, having seen him and the way he has grown in the last two years within the red-ball format,” Bavuma said.
“It’s about giving him a lot more confidence, keep backing him and just allowing him to do what he does best. He has an opportunity in a pressure situation, but I think he can take comfort from the fact that the guys are backing him. We just want him to play his game,” he added.
While Keshav Maharaj is the solitary full-time spinner, the bowling lineup also features Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen alongside Lungi Ngidi.
The South Africa captain explained the reasoning behind picking Ngidi over Dane Paterson,
“Probably one of the tougher decisions that has been made. We see what Dane Paterson did for us to the end of last season. But it was more from a tactical point of view. Probably a little bit more pace from Lungi, guess he’s a bit taller as well,” Bavuma said.
“Lungi also has a better record, not taking away anything from Patto. He (Ngidi) has the experience, he’s played here before, not that Patto hasn’t. But I think he (Ngidi) will complement that bowling attack a little more. We have a guy like Mulder, who can give us something similar like Patto. It was probably one of the difficult decision we had to make,” he added.
South Africa Playing XI: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (c), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
