SA vs AUS, WTC 2025 Final: Temba Bavuma rejoices South Africa's historic triumph, says 'special moment for us'

South Africa finally ended their 27-year wait for an ICC trophy as they beat Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final on Saturday (June 14) by five wickets. In what is a historic day for South African cricket, Temba Bavuma joined Hansie Cronje as the only captain to lift a senior ICC men’s trophy. After the win, he rejoiced the moment as his side conquered the biggest prize in red-ball cricket.

Temba Bavuma rejoices historic triumph

“Special moment for us as a team, special moment back home will take a couple of days to sink in. The energy was there, we have been wanting this as a team, we have been knocking on the door, we have gone through the heartache, the disappointments, seen it with the past players and the sun is on us. Hopefully, this is one of many,” Bavuma said during the post-match.

Needing 69 more runs to win the WTC title on Saturday, Bavuma and Co completed the chase in the first session of Day 4. Overnight batters, Bavuma (66) and Aiden Markram (136) laid the foundation for the win as they stitched a stand of 147 runs for the fourth wicket.

David Bedingham (21) and Kyle Verreynne (4) later completed the chase as South Africa won by five wickets at the Home of Cricket.

The triumph comes after a series of near misses for the Proteas in the near history having most recently lost the 2024 T20 World Cup final to India. They also reached multiple ODI World Cup semifinals, highlighting their tags as chokers.

On the other hand, the defeat for Australia is their fourth in an ICC event in a senior men’s event. They lost the 1975 and 1996 ODI World Cup final while they later lost the 2010 T20 World Cup.