Australia will hope to defend their World Test Championship (WTC) title and maintain a hold on the Mace when they take on South Africa in the final, starting at the Lord's in London on Wednesday (June 11).
South Africa is the team in form, having topped the WTC Standing with 69 percentage points, while Australia are the defending champions.
Australia, a multiple-time champion in other ICC events, has never won any top-tier event. Australia are playing their second successive WTC Final while South Africa have made their maiden entry into the summit clash in the longest format of the game.
That is the reason why the South Africans are looking forward to winning the title, as they believe that it will bring in a generational shift in cricket in South Africa.
Everyone's very excited about it now, as the opportunity arises, a lot of people are going to travel over to London, spend all their Rands, and go watch what should be a good match. If we win it, I think that could be the turnaround for Test cricket in our country.
Though South Africa have reached the final after topping the standings on the back of winning seven of their last eight matches, they have a history of choking in important matches, as their defeats in the semifinals and finals of top ICC events prove. They will have to fight that history besides Australia in the final.
On the seaming Lord's track, the result of the one-off Test is likely to be dictated by the pacers from both teams. South Africa's pace attack will be led by Kagiso Rabada along with Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen, while Australia have picked the pace trio of captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood, leaving out Scott Boland.
And former England pacer James Anderson said the pace attack that would utilise the conditions best would come on top and likely decide the fate of the match. He also advised the pacers from the two teams on how they can exploit the pitch.
Here (at Lord's) is definitely somewhere you need to pitch the ball up. A lot of people talk about the top of the off-stump being the ideal length, but I think here it's more than three-quarters up the stump. That way you are a little bit fuller in length, so that's my advice for the seamers.
Anderson is excited to watch the duel between speedster Kagiso Rabada and former Australia captain and right-handed batter Steve Smith.
Anderson suggested that Rabada's duel with Smith, the most senior batter in the Australian line-up, could be a decisive factor in determining the winner of the final.
The main one for me will be Rabada against Steve Smith, and I think that could be a really good, interesting battle. Steve Smith is one of the best batters in the world, and Kagiso Rabada is one of my favourite bowlers to watch. I think he's got so many attributes that just make me want to tune into the TV and watch him. He's a fantastic player, so I'm really looking forward to that battle.
While Anderson was focusing on the battle between the pacers, Smith admitted that the pitch seemed a bit drier than it was in the past, which means spinners could play a role in the match.
Yeah, I think spin will play a big part, particularly as the game wears on. It is dry, I think the reports, obviously, we only came here a week ago, but I think it's been pretty dry to start the season over here. There hasn't been too much rain, which can be rare for England, obviously. But yeah, it does look like quite a dry surface, and I think the foot marks will definitely come into play as the game wears on.
If Smith's prediction comes, Nathan Lyon for Australia and Keshav Maharaj for South Africa can come into play a bit earlier than expected.
The two sides announced their playing XIs on Tuesday with Australia skipper Pat Cummins informing that Marnus Labuschagne will open the innings with seasoned Usman Khawaja. This will be the first that Labuschagne will open the innings.
Labuschagne, who has never opened in Test cricket, has just one Test century to his name since the end of 2022 and failed to make much of an impression in two matches for the County side Glamorgan earlier this month. But Cummins still expressed confidence in him. With Cameron Green coming back from an injury, Labuschagne's promotion looks a logical decision.
I think Cam Green, the last few weeks he's had, is coming back in great form, we thought he deserves a spot somewhere in the batting line-up. We thought three probably suited him best. And then, you know, with Marnus moving, we thought it's, you know, one spot up really. It's not too different from batting at three. He's done well here in England in the past. You know, all the boys have trained well. He Sam, and Josh Inglis have all trained really well. But I thought the selectors went with Marnus's experience, (not only) here at Lord's, but in England in general.
South Africa, too, have made one surprise decision -- to continue with Wiaan Mulder at the crucial No.3 position. This choice comes after Mulder's recent performances in Tests against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, where he demonstrated his potential.
It's about giving him a lot more confidence, keep backing him and just allowing him to do what he does best.
The captain emphasised the importance of supporting the young batter in high-pressure situations, highlighting the camaraderie within the team. Besides Mulder, South Africa will have high hopes for Ryan Rickelton, who has emerged as the team's top-scorer during the WTC 2023/25 cycle, skipper Bavuma, Aiden Markram, and the promising young talent Tristan Stubbs.
Predicted playing XIs: Australia: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
South Africa: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickleton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (capt), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi.
