Day 1 of the ICC World Test Championship Final 2025 at Lord’s supplied gripping motion with high-quality tempo bowling and tense moments. After being despatched in to bat by South Africa, Australia posted 212 due to gritty knocks from Steve Smith (66) and Beau Webster (72), however the story of the day was Kagiso Rabada’s sensational five-wicket haul. South Africa’s reply, nonetheless, become a top-order collapse, with the Proteas reeling at 43/4 by stumps, nonetheless trailing by 169 runs. A riveting contest between two robust tempo assaults has set the tone for a high-stakes closing.
Kagiso Rabada wrecks Australia with five-wicket blitz at Lord’s
Rabada delivered one in all his best spells on England soil, dismantling Australia’s batting lineup with a fiery 5/51 throughout 15.4 overs. He set the tone early, eradicating Usman Khawaja for a duck and returning later to take away Cameron Inexperienced, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and the well-set Beau Webster to scrub up the tail. Rabada bought the ball to nip each methods and extracted good bounce from the Lord’s floor, protecting the Australians on the defensive. Solely Smith and Webster confirmed resistance, Smith with a composed 66 and Webster counterattacking with 72, however neither might convert their begins into a giant hundred as Rabada and Marco Jansen (3/49) maintained relentless strain. Australia have been bowled out in below 60 overs, with six batters failing to achieve double digits.
Additionally WATCH: SA vs AUS: Marco Jansen takes a sensational juggling catch to get rid of Steve Smith | WTC 2025 Final, Day 1
South Africa’s high order crumbles towards Australia in WTC 2025 closing
In reply, South Africa endured a nightmare begin towards Australia’s potent tempo trio. Mitchell Starc was deadly upfront, dismissing Aiden Markram for a duck after which Ryan Rickelton for 16 with traditional left-arm angle and seam motion. Wiaan Mulder then performed a sluggish 44-ball keep earlier than being bowled by way of the gate by a seaming supply from Pat Cummins. Josh Hazlewood joined the act to dismiss debutant Tristan Stubbs cheaply, lowering South Africa to 30/4. With captain Temba Bavuma struggling on 3 off 37 balls and David Bedingham new on the crease, the Proteas limped to 43/4 at stumps. The pace-friendly situations and disciplined Australian bowling have left South Africa below extreme strain heading into Day 2 of this high-octane closing.
Right here’s how followers reacted
Jersey quantity 56 bringing the ball in to the proper hander, an attractive web site;). Prime class first over from Mitchell Starc.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) June 11, 2025
Starc rattling the stumps within the first over of an ICC Closing 🔥😍 pic.twitter.com/nxcvxRPygU
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) June 11, 2025
KG Rabada!! 5 Wickets at Lords and overtakes Alan Donald’s 330 wickets.. 4th on the all time checklist!
KG… One of many best of all time! 🐐 pic.twitter.com/MlegZleiSn
— Michael Morton (@MMORTON6) June 11, 2025
And the way a lot expensive will the third pacer value SA?
Australia haven’t allowed SA to do something and caught all of them in entrance of the stumps!
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) June 11, 2025
Relentless from Australia, which you’d count on tbh, however SA have been sitting geese with their method. No rotation of strike, not even trying to. Finally the ball has your quantity.
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) June 11, 2025
HAZLEGOD, WHAT A BEAUTY.
— arfan (@Im__Arfan) June 11, 2025
14 wickets fell on Day 1 as SA crumble to 43-4 at stumps
Bavuma & Bedingham will look to avoid wasting them tomorrow #WTCFinal
— ThePoppingCrease (@PoppingCreaseSA) June 11, 2025
Catastrophe Strikes for South Africa! 😱
Day 1 ends with the Proteas reeling at 43/4, nonetheless trailing by 169 runs within the WTC Closing 2025.
The Australian pacers unleashed relentless aggression, turning the grand finale at Lord’s right into a horror present for South Africa.
Sheer dominance… pic.twitter.com/EHa4lw9w1n
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) June 11, 2025
Stumps on Day 1 of the #WTCFinal 🏏, a day of high-quality Check cricket with relentless depth 🔥.
🇿🇦 South Africa ends on 43/4, trailing by 169 runs. A superb center session with the ball, adopted by a hard-fought closing part to shut out the day. 👏
🕥 Day 2 motion… pic.twitter.com/lDFLR2TrPs
— Proteas Males (@ProteasMenCSA) June 11, 2025
What a day of Check cricket at Lord’s #WTC25 pic.twitter.com/ZabThCg2Ab
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) June 11, 2025
Additionally READ: SA vs AUS: Steve Smith outshines Viv Richards and Allan Border with an elite record on Day 1 of WTC 2025 final
