With overcast skies looming large over Lord’s, South African skipper Temba Bavuma wasted no time in opting to bowl first after winning the toss in the World Test Championship final. His pace attack responded with immediate discipline, delivering three consecutive maiden overs to open the match and building relentless pressure on the Australian batters.
The reward came soon, as Kagiso Rabada removed Usman Khawaja—Australia’s top run-scorer in the WTC cycle—for a 20-ball duck. Cameron Green briefly provided resistance, flicking Rabada for a boundary on his first ball, but he didn’t last long, edging to Markram just a couple of deliveries later.
Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne then tried to stabilize the innings, adopting a cautious approach. They managed to push the score to 46 before Labuschagne gloved a rising delivery to keeper Kyle Verreynne, continuing South Africa’s dream start.
Travis Head looked to shift the momentum with a quickfire 11 off 12 balls, but his counterattack was cut short when he feathered a ball down the leg side—Verreynne once again diving full stretch to complete a sharp catch. Australia, the defending champions, found themselves in deep trouble at lunch with the score reading 67/4.
After the break, Smith began to find his rhythm and displayed his trademark control, rarely offering a chance. He found a steady partner in Beau Webster, who benefited from a missed review by South Africa on a plumb LBW call. As Smith brought up yet another fifty at Lord’s—his fifth in six innings at the venue—Webster joined the act with some confident strokeplay, including two boundaries off Lungi Ngidi in the 38th over.
At 145/4, the Aussies were regaining their footing, but Bavuma’s decision to hand the ball to part-timer Aiden Markram turned the tide again—Smith nicked one behind to Marco Jansen. Webster and Alex Carey saw through to Tea, with the score at 190/5.
The final session brought a sudden collapse. Just when it looked like Australia might edge ahead, they lost two wickets in successive overs, giving South Africa a vital opening. The Proteas capitalized superbly, dismissing both Carey and the set Webster—who fell for a gritty 79—as they reduced the Aussies to 210/8.
The final two wickets fell cheaply, adding just two more runs, and Rabada etched his name onto the Lord’s honours board with a stellar five-wicket haul. Australia’s innings came to a disappointing end at 212 all out, a total far below what their mid-innings recovery had promised.
In reply, Mitchell Starc came out breathing fire. He dismissed Markram in the very first over, sending a strong early message. Although Mulder survived a dropped chance by Carey, the Aussie quicks maintained their intensity. Starc struck again to remove Ryan Rickelton, leaving South Africa reeling at 19/2.
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Pat Cummins added to the pressure by sneaking one through Mulder’s defense soon after, as runs dried up. Bavuma, under pressure, finally opened his account on the 31st delivery he faced, drawing the loudest cheer of the day. Despite Stubbs’ dismissal, David Bedingham’s back-to-back boundaries in the final over offered South Africa a slight boost, closing a dramatic first day with the scoreboard at 43/4.