South Africa ditches 'chokers' tag to win World Test Championship
Across four days at Lord's, Temba Bavuma's team shows history, both distant and recent, can be overcome by a group brimming with talent and resilience.
As South Africa's batters ate into the victory target at Lord's, a party atmosphere gripped the usually staid Home of Cricket.
Graeme Smith made his way to the boundary to join the celebrations as an interviewer and former teammate. Shaun Pollock stood up in the commentary box. AB de Villiers, ever the outlier, sat in the stands riding every moment with his mates and kids.
On the field, a new generation not littered with legends of the sport was doing what those giants of the game couldn't.
After decades of pain in major tournaments, finally the Proteas had their hands on a major international cricket trophy, having brushed aside Australia with relative ease in the end.
Lord's was made to sound like The Wanderers as South Africa zeroed in on a target that felt lofty at lunch on day three but was elementary at the start of day four.
The loss of captain Temba Bavuma in the third over of the day may have prompted bouts of hyperhidrosis for some in the stands, but seemingly not for those out in the middle.
It wasn't that they were any less aware of South Africa's miserable history in the pointy end of major tournaments, they just refused to be weighed down by it no matter how much the Aussies tried to remind them.
"While we were batting we heard the Aussies use those dreaded words: chokers," Bavuma told BBC Test Match Special.
If they'd lost eight wickets for less than 68 runs on what turned out to be the final day of the match, it might have gone down as the greatest choke of them all.
Instead, Aiden Markram simply carried on his merry way, taking the team within six runs of victory before falling not due to some overwhelming timidity but by a desire to belt the ball into the stands to finish with a bang.
Kyle Verreynne should have been out caught behind with the scores tied, but the Aussies were the ones panicking on that sunny Saturday afternoon and had burned through all three of their decision reviews to be left smiling wryly as the replays revealed hey would have got this one right.
Two balls later Verreynne clattered Starc through the covers and the celebrations could truly begin.
By day four, Lord's might as well have been a home ground for the Proteas. (AP: Kirsty Wigglesworth)
"You see the elation of past greats … it's not [just] for us, it's also for them," Bavuma said.
"We've been etched in history. We've been part of something that's never been done."
But it wasn't just the demons of Allan Donald's brain melt in the 1999 World Cup semifinal, or snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the corresponding game in 2015. The nation went one better at the past three T20 World Cups, but the women's team finished runners-up in 2023 and 2024, as did the men's team led by Markram last year.
And in the men's Test scene, South Africa's presence in the Lord's final was seen not as a recognition of their consistency (now with eight wins on the trot) but as a flaw in the system as a whole.
In the two-year cycle, the Proteas split two Tests against India at home and beat the West Indies in the Caribbean, won 2-0 in Bangladesh, then followed suit with two-Test sweeps at home against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Australia was heavily favoured coming into the final. (AP: Kirsty Wigglesworth)
The only series the team has lost since travelling to Australia in 2022-23 was an 0-2 result in New Zealand that saw the team fairly derided for holding its frontline players out so they could play in the domestic T20 tournament. (This year they hooked their stars from the IPL early to focus on this Test, while Cricket Australia left it up to individual players.)
By comparison, Australia travelled to England to draw the Ashes, hosted Pakistan (3-0) and the West Indies (1-1) in the 23/24 summer, won 2-0 in New Zealand last year, beat India 3-1 in a five-game series, and won 2-0 in Sri Lanka.
"It's been a tough campaign for us, as much as a lot of people questioned us. I hope our performance gives credence to us being here," Bavuma said.
If nothing else it shows South Africa takes the Test game seriously.
They aren't among the powerbrokers of world cricket and don't have the ability to host money-spinning five-Test series against England or India like Australia can.
They can only play who is willing to play them and taking on smaller nations is something Cricket Australia appears less inclined towards, but it helps keep the five-day game alive.
Australia has played Bangladesh only three times since it became a Test nation in 2000 (and not once since 2017) compared to South Africa's eight. And the Southern Cross Trophy hasn't gone on the line in more than 20 years — such a long time that you probably had no idea that would be against Zimbabwe.
South Africa is doing what it can with the opportunities it has, and the players carry an even greater responsibility than most.
Temba Bavuma remains undefeated as a Test captain. (AP: Kirsty Wigglesworth)
The nation was banned by the ICC from 1970 until 1991 due to the state's apartheid regime and, as silly as it may seem to some, athletes carry a weight in bringing even the most divided countries together even if just for a brief moment.
Siya Kolisi's Springboks shone under that burden and privilege at the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cups, and the Proteas felt a similar pride at Lord's.
Keshav Maharaj was in tears as he spoke about the "unity" he had witnessed over the past few days and throughout the season, saying: "It's just what our country is about."
Langa man Bavuma became the first black specialist batter selected for South Africa's Test team when he was named in 2014, and now the diminutive 35-year-old is the country's first captain to experience cricketing glory.
"It's a chance for South Africa to be united," he said.
"We've got a cause where we can put aside out differences and enjoy. We just have to embrace it.
"We can live in this joyful moment as a nation."
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