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South Africa mount fightback in day two of World Test Championship final

By Joel Sritharan

It was another great day for the seamers as the fight for the World Test Championship between Australia and South Africa hangs in the balance after day two.

Australia lead by 218 runs at Lord's Cricket Ground but are currently 144-8 in their second innings. The day started with Australia captain Pat Cummins leading the charge for the reigning champions.

Lungi Ngidi

He took five wickets, including the key scalps of Temba Bavuma (36) and David Bedingham (45), to finish with figures of 6-28 and reach 300 test wickets.

South Africa were skittled out for 138, giving Australia a lead of 74 at the midway point, but Kagiso Rabada continued where he left off on day one, and now has eight wickets in the match.

He removed both Usman Khawaja (six) and Cameron Green (0) just before tea, from which point Lungi Ngidi (3-35) took over.

Ngidi trapped both Steve Smith (13) and Beau Webster (nine) for lbw before bowling out Cummins (six).

Alex Carey (43) was the last wicket to fall on day two as Rabada caught him on the pads, but Marco Jansen dropped a catch in the last over of the session after Mitchell Starc edged the ball off the bowling of Wiaan Mulder.

Data Debrief: Cummins writes himself into history

Thirteen of the 14 wickets taken on day two came off seam bowling, with the other being a run out, one more than the 12 on day one.

But it was Cummins who stole the spotlight among the bowlers, as he claimed his 14th five-wicket haul in the longest format.

He is the 40th bowler to reach the 300-wicket landmark, and the eighth for Australia. He is the fifth fastest to get there, doing so in 13,725 balls, beating Malcolm Marshall by three deliveries.

Story first published: Friday, June 13, 2025, 0:44 [IST]
Other articles published on Jun 13, 2025
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