2 w. ago Scotland U20 squad named but coach in the dark over fundamental aspect of World Championship

Young Scots to face England, Australia and South Africa in Italy

Sport

2 w. ago ‘Chokers? This win squashes that’: Bavuma hopes WTC victory can unite South Africa

‘As a country, it’s a chance for us to rejoice in something’South Africa beat Australia by five wickets in finalAfter generations of disappointment and heartbreak South Africa shrugged off the tag that has long haunted them with victory in the World Test Championship here. For years they have been smeared as chokers, but no more.“While we were batting we could hear the Aussies using that dreaded word: choke,” said Temba Bavuma, the South Africa captain. “We came in with a lot of belief and a lot of doubters. We got ourselves into the final, there were doubters as to the route we took. This win squashes that. Here’s an opportunity for us as a nation, divided as we are, to unite.” Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Photos capture South Africa's emotional WTC final victory over Australia at Lord's

South Africa has upset Australia by five wickets to win the World Test Championship on the fourth day of the final at Lord's.

Culture

2 w. ago South Africa win World Test Championship after completing stunning comeback against Australia – as it happened

Aiden Markram scores 136 runs as South Africa defeat Australia by five wickets at Lord’s to lift the World Test Championship title60th over: South Africa 218-3 (Markram 106, Stubbs 0) So it is Tristan Stubbs to the middle. Starts at the non-striker’s end, but immediately gets strike as Markram guides a single. Lots of pressure on Stubbs, more a white-ball player but one of huge talent, who Shukri Conrad has backed in this team. Small target, plenty of time, and in a short-form game he might knock off these last 64 runs in five overs. But this is different. Hit on the pad early, Hazlewood appealing but it’s going down leg. Two slips and a gully, but the second slip is Webster and the gully is Green, so effectively four slips and two gullies. Cover, mid off, mid on, midwicket up closer. Deep point and deep backward square saving boundaries. Stubbs defends his first five balls.59th over: South Africa 217-3 (Markram 105) Oh, there it is! The first tremor? South Africa’s captain battled ...

Politics

2 w. ago Aiden Markram helps South Africa beat Australia in World Test Championship final

Set 282 to win, 70 more than had been scored in any of the first three innings at Lord’s, Markram scored 136 runs.

Sport

2 w. ago South Africa win World Test Championship after completing stunning comeback against Australia – live reaction

South Africa chasing a target of 282 to win at Lord’sRead the latest edition of The Spin | And email James60th over: South Africa 218-3 (Markram 106, Stubbs 0) So it is Tristan Stubbs to the middle. Starts at the non-striker’s end, but immediately gets strike as Markram guides a single. Lots of pressure on Stubbs, more a white-ball player but one of huge talent, who Shukri Conrad has backed in this team. Small target, plenty of time, and in a short-form game he might knock off these last 64 runs in five overs. But this is different. Hit on the pad early, Hazlewood appealing but it’s going down leg. Two slips and a gully, but the second slip is Webster and the gully is Green, so effectively four slips and two gullies. Cover, mid off, mid on, midwicket up closer. Deep point and deep backward square saving boundaries. Stubbs defends his first five balls.59th over: South Africa 217-3 (Markram 105) Oh, there it is! The first tremor? South Africa’s captain battled through the pain yesterd...

Politics

2 w. ago World Test Championship: South Africa end long trophy wait with tense Lord's victory over Australia

Aiden Markram’s sensational century helped South Africa to chase down 282

Politics

2 w. ago Markram steers South Africa to historic World Test Championship final triumph

Final, D4: SA, 138 & 282-5, bt Aus, 212 & 207, by five wktsVerreynne sees Proteas home against AustraliaFirst trophy since 1998 banishes ‘chokers’ barbAs the South African balcony erupted in ecstasy, and the green shirts in the crowd sent a roar ringing around St John’s Wood, Temba Bavuma simply sat there with his head in his hands. Relief? Disbelief? Whatever it was, it was the culmination of a journey from the township of Langa to the new pinnacle of Test cricket at Lord’s. South Africa, World Test Championship winners under his calm leadership, had made history.There were a couple of stutters along the way, moments when South African backsides started to twitch like a rabbit’s nose and memories of all those self-inflicted heartaches at International Cricket Council events came flooding back. But in the end, guided by a masterful 136 from Aiden Markram - catharsis after last year’s loss in the T20 World Cup final under his captaincy - they squeezed out the remaining 69 run...

Sport

2 w. ago South Africa v Australia: World Test Championship final cricket, day four – live

South Africa chasing a target of 282 to win at Lord’sPlay starts at 10.30am BST / 11.30am SAST / 7.30pm AESTRead the latest edition of The Spin | And email GeoffWho’s nervous? I’m nervous, on their behalf. The batters in next will have spent the evening telling themselves that they’re relaxed, but I’m sure there are thoughts flittering around, mostly that they would all really like to not be required. Australia need to turn that screw right away to have a chance.Then there was Andy Bull, who pondered the slips and the turn of fate that saw Steve Smith’s horrible hand injury. Continue reading...

Sport

2 w. ago Australia learn cricket’s oldest lesson as South Africa turn the tables in WTC

An Australian win looked inevitable after setting 282 to win, but Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma defied the oddsRight from the start of the day, there was an inevitability that this match was Australia’s. They started 218 runs in front, in the third innings, walking back onto a Lord’s field where 28 wickets had fallen in the previous two days. They had the four-star bowling attack, their opponents had the shooting-star batting order, one that had flashed and vanished in its first sighting. Soon this would be compounded by Temba Bavuma’s hamstring injury. The lead as it stood looked a chance to be enough, and first would come the chance to increase it a smidgen more.The sense of inevitability only grew as that smidgen broadened into a big dirty smudge. There is nothing more galling for a cricket team than a long tenth-wicket partnership. Every ball is more annoying than the one before. Things had started right, Kagiso Rabada in his second over of the day trapping Nathan Lyon with onl...

Politics

2 w. ago Aiden Markram gives South Africa control against Australia at Lord’s

The Proteas need another 69 runs to win the World Test Championship final.

Politics

2 w. ago Markram and Bavuma steer South Africa to verge of stunning WTC upset against Australia

Day three: Australia 212 & 207; South Africa 138 & 213-2Opener hits century and Bavuma bats on through injuryHeartache and South African cricket have not so much gone hand in hand over the years as been married and had a litter of kids. But provided they eke out the last 69 runs of what would be an epic run chase on day four, divorce papers can be issued and the World Test Championship mace will be theirs.At the end of a gripping third day Australia were left praying that South Africa’s habit of imploding at global events – yes, yes, the old chokers tag – might return in the morning. Guided by a sparkling unbeaten 102 from Aiden Markram, and the captain, Temba Bavuma, hobbling through a hamstring injury to finish on 65 not out, the Proteas had reached 213 for two at stumps in pursuit of 282 to win. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago South Africa defy the doubters and Australia to close in on remarkable Test triumph

Aiden Markram’s magnificent unbeaten 102 helped South Africa edge closer to World Test Championship final triumph

Politics

2 w. ago South Africa v Australia: World Test Championship final cricket, day three – live

Updates from the third day of the WTC final at Lord’sRead the latest edition of The Spin | And email GeoffThis is mine, with the Australian perspective on Pat Cummins’ remarkable day, and what influence a certain member of the nouveau landed gentry might have had.Here’s Simon Burnton with the press conference reporting, where David ‘Bedding In’ Bedingham is upbeat about knocking off the Aussies. Continue reading...

Sport

3 w. ago Cummins and Rabada lead from the front on a breathless second day at Lord’s | Geoff Lemon

Australia and South Africa had plenty of reasons to be grateful to their respective spearheads as the WTC final progressed at a rapid paceYou would have to call the combination incongruous. In one of the clips doing the digital rounds before the World Test Championship, there was Pat Cummins on Jeremy Clarkson’s farm programme, having apparently just raided the activewear section, the men around him wearing those vests that help rich people believe themselves to be rugged outdoor types. It’s hard to imagine much affinity between the two, sitting presumably at a wooden farmhouse table over Clarkson’s rustic bean soup and a heel of crusty bread, talking their way to a cordial entente about carbon emissions. But there was the Australian captain nonetheless, affably rolling an arm over while a farm type plonked a rubber ball on to a nearby shed, the bowler smiling in that way that suggests a shrug as Clarkson sledged him in a most British fashion.By the second day of the World Test Cham...

Politics

3 w. ago South Africa have ‘massive belief’ they can stun Australia, insists David Bedingham

Batter confident despite 218-run deficit in WTC finalPat Cummins hails ‘brilliant’ Alex Carey for rescue actThe destiny of the mace may still be in the balance but David Bedingham admitted Australia’s bowlers had already “shown they’re the best in the world” in bowling South Africa out for 138 on the second day of the World Test Championship final. Pat Cummins claimed six wickets to put his team in the ascendancy but on a whirligig day of constantly oscillating fortunes, the Proteas promptly bowled themselves back into contention, with Australia reaching stumps on 144 for eight, nursing a lead of 218.“It’s an amazing chance, and we’re all excited about the opportunity to win,” said Bedingham. “It could go either way but us as a team are very, very excited and there’s a lot of belief in the dressing room. We’re very confident. When they started batting in their second innings we would definitely have taken this score. So very confident, there’s massive belief in this team.” Continue ...

Politics

3 w. ago Australia and South Africa wickets tumble to leave WTC final on a knife

Day two: Australia 212 & 144-8; South Africa 138Proteas battle back after Pat Cummins’ early blitzThis final has been dubbed “The Ultimate Test” and though almost certainly the product of a W1A-style ideas splurge back in Dubai, this tagline scarcely felt more appropriate watching the wickets tumble for a second successive day.It had looked for all money like Pat Cummins had sealed the fate of the World Test Championship mace. Thundering in from the Nursery End, a four-wicket burst after lunch had seen him claim six for 28 and with South Africa all out for 138 in 57.1 overs – 74 behind – all it needed was a further top-up of runs. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Captain Pat Cummins answers Australia’s call before South Africa roar back in rollercoaster final

Cummins took six wickets to put Australia in the ascendancy before a late collapse kept South Africa’s hopes much alive

Politics

3 w. ago South Africa v Australia: World Test Championship final cricket, day two – live

Updates from the second day of the WTC final at Lord’sRead the latest edition of The Spin | And mail GeoffHello from London. The day dawns sunny here, though who knows which way it will turn – Lord’s atmospherics are often a game of snakes and ladders. So too can be Test cricket, as South Africa found yesterday: racing up the ladder of the Australian top order, sliding back thanks to Steve Smith, ascending again to bowl them out for 212, then having a serious slip of four wickets before stumps.They didn’t fall all the way back to the bottom, but they will if David Bedingham and the captain Temba Bavuma go quickly this morning. Rung by rung it will need to be for the South Africans, at 43 for 4. Continue reading...

Sport

3 w. ago Kagiso Rabada lays down marker of excellence with fiery spells for South Africa | Simon Burnton

Teammates say he is the world’s best bowler and judging by his first-day display against Australia he is not far offGiven there was a certain scepticism in advance of this game about South Africa’s suitability for a place in this final, their spot having been secured through a run of good results, mostly at home, in short series that notably did not involve either of the two sides currently ranked ahead of them, perhaps they needed an early marker of excellence, a demonstration of merit. Fortunately they had just the man.At 10.30am the pre-match pyrotechnic mist cleared with Kagiso Rabada at the nursery end, ball in hand. Perhaps Usman Khawaja’s personal fog lingered a while longer, the first ball of the day zinging past his outside edge and sending the Australian opener into survival mode. Rabada started his day with a maiden, and then another, and then another. Khawaja faced every delivery, including a couple more that he barely survived. And then, two balls into Rabada’s fourth o...

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