Australia's Glenn Maxwell produced an unbeaten half-century in a tense chase to help the hosts edge out South Africa by two wickets in the third and final Twenty20 International and complete a 2-1 series victory in Cairns on Saturday.
Drugs ban gives Rabada extra motivation for WTC final, says the Proteas captain
South Africa pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada is still bitter about the scheduling fiasco which saw him miss the two-Test series in New Zealand.
IMAGES from Day 1 of the WTC Final between Australia and South Africa at Lord's on Wednesday
With South Africa's seam attack featuring Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, and Marco Jansen and Australia having Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and the ever-dependable Josh Hazlewood in their lineup, the battle between the two sides' fast bowlers is likely to be critical in determining the outcome of the World Test Championship final, as per ICC website.
Accumulating 500 wickets in 218 international appearances, Rabada maintains an average of 24.79
Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green smashed blistering hundreds as Australia steamrollered South Africa by 276 runs in the third and final One-Day International.
Kuldeep slips to third in ODI rankings, Maharaj regains top spot
South African pacer Kagiso Rabada and Test captain Temba Bavuma, who are not part of the Proteas white-ball cricket mix to gear up for the Test series against India, won't feature in domestic cricket.
Ravichandran Ashwin on Tuesday expressed disappointment over Shreyas Iyer's exclusion from the Asia Cup squad
GT's director of cricket Vikram Solanki. asserted that all procedures were followed by the concerned parties in this case as the 29-year-old Rabada trained with Gujarat Titans ahead of their clash against Mumbai Indians.
Australia is on the cusp of scripting another milestone. If the Baggy Greens trounce the Proteas, they will become the first team to defend the WTC mace successfully.
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen on Saturday rated Protea opener Aiden Markram's measured hundred against Australia in the World Test Championship final as the "best innings" by a South African batter in Test matches.
Bavuma said his hamstring was 'feeling good' ahead of his return, and the South African skipper also confirmed he would bat at number three for the opening match of the three-game series behind openers Ryan Rickelton and Aiden Markram.
Australia took the upper hand in the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's, ending day two on 144-8 in their second innings with a lead of 218 runs after wickets tumbled freely again on Thursday.
A look back at a few memorable showdowns in the last decade and half that had the quintessential crests and troughs of Test cricket.
Pat Cummins tore through South Africa before a Proteas fightback left the ICC World Test Championship Final 2025 on a knife-edge at the end of an absorbing second day at Lord's.
Star batter Virat Kohli was covering the swing well although he played and missed often until one ball moved away late to send him back to the dressing room, a pleased as punch Kagiso Rabada said after getting his 14th five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
The 25-year-old Gill is a front-runner favourite to replace Rohit Sharma as next Test captain ahead of England tour, starting June 20.
IMAGES from the first Test played between South Africa and India in Centurion on Tuesday
South Africa's dream start to the World Test Championship final quickly turned into a nightmare at Lord's, as their batters failed to back up Kagiso Rabada's five-wicket masterclass.
Rishabh Pant, who hit two centuries in the Headingley Test, now trails top-ranked batter Joe Root by just 88 points.
Gujarat Titans will be aiming for a top-two spot even as Chennai Super Kings continue planning for the future when the two teams meet in the Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Kagiso Rabada is already in the pantheon of great South African fast bowlers, but if the Proteas play only a limited number of Tests a year, he can never surpass Dale Steyn's record of 439 wickets, reckoned Makhaya Ntini on Tuesday.
Top-order batter Rassie van der Dussen will lead South Africa during next month's Twenty20 tri-series with New Zealand and hosts Zimbabwe, with four uncapped players in the squad, Cricket South Africa said on Thursday.
South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada believes Proteas have all the strength to shake the 'chokers' tag and get their hands on the coveted ICC Men's Cricket World Cup trophy for the first time.
England have requested a pitch with 'plenty of life in it' as they look to unleash returning pacers Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson in the third Test against India at Lord's.
Gibbs said leadership develops with time, and Gill possesses the composure to grow into the role.
WTC-bound SA players to miss play-offs after BCCI asks teams to release them by May 26
Pietersen doubled down on his criticism, calling out the Proteas for going into a shell rather than trying to wrest back momentum.
Konstas has been drafted in to replace Marnus Labuschagne, who opened in the World Test Championship final alongside Khawaja but failed to impress as Australia lost to South Africa by five wickets.
South Africa go into the five-day clash at Lord's, which starts on Wednesday, as underdogs but Conrad struck an optimistic tone at a press conference on Monday.
CSA's director Enoch Nkwe changed his stance, saying higher-level talks were happening between CSA, the BCCI, and IPL franchises, suggesting CSA had little choice in the matter.
Commanding wins in their two opening games have elevated South Africa as favourites in the World Cup but pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada insisted there is still a long way to go and the team is focused on taking one match at a time.
Kagiso Rabada claimed the key wickets of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav at crucial junctures, to turn the game in Punjab Kings's favour.
Punjab Kings fast bowler Kagiso Rabada etched his name in the IPL record books as he became the fastest to pick 100 wickets in the T20 league in terms of matches played.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's bowling unit will face a different challenge when they take on Gujarat Titans in an IPL match on Wednesday.
Australia will have to dust off the cobwebs but are still fancied to successfully defend their World Test Championship crown against equally ring-rusty South Africa in the final at Lord's.
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald hinted at a rejig in the top order after misfiring in the World Test Championship final defence against South Africa at Lord's.
Former No. 1-ranked Test batter Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja would open the innings for Australia in the WTC final against South Africa while the fit-again Cameron Green would bat at the No. 3 position.
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