The ICC World Test Championship final between Australia and South Africa is underway at Lord’s, England. The first day saw a challenging time for both teams’ batsmen. While South Africa’s bowlers initially troubled the Australian batsmen, the Australian bowlers responded in kind.
Mitchell Starc stood out with his exceptional bowling, disrupting the batsmen and limiting run flow. He also made history by breaking Mohammed Shami’s record, taking 2 wickets on the opening day.
Starc’s performance saw him take 2 crucial wickets for only 10 runs in 7 overs. He dismissed Aiden Markram early on and then surpassed Shami’s record by taking the wicket of Ryan Rickelton. Starc now holds the record for the most wickets in ICC tournament finals with 11 wickets across 6 innings, previously held by Mohammed Shami with 10 wickets.
Australia’s first innings concluded with 212 runs. Steve Smith scored 66 runs, Marnus Labuschagne contributed 72, and Alex Carey added 23 runs. For South Africa, Kagiso Rabada secured 5 wickets, and Marco Jansen took 3.
South Africa’s first innings start was also poor, ending the day at 43 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Dean Elgar, and Tristan Stubbs were dismissed. Currently, Temba Bavuma is at the crease with 3 runs, and David Bedingham has 8 runs.