The ICC World Test Championship final between Australia and South Africa is underway at Lord’s, England. The opening day of the match witnessed challenging conditions for the batsmen of both teams. The South African bowlers initially put the Australian batsmen under pressure, and then the Australian bowlers displayed strong performances as well.
Mitchell Starc delivered an outstanding performance, not only troubling the batsmen but also keeping the run rate in check. In addition, Starc achieved a historic feat by breaking the record previously held by Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami, by taking 2 wickets on the first day.
Starc performed exceptionally well, securing 2 crucial wickets for only 10 runs in 7 overs. He dismissed Aiden Markram in the initial overs, and shortly after Ryan Rickelton was out, Starc surpassed Mohammed Shami’s record. Starc is now the highest wicket-taking bowler in ICC tournament finals, with 11 wickets in 6 innings. Previously, Mohammed Shami held this record with 10 wickets.
Australia’s first innings ended at 212 runs. Steve Smith scored 66 runs, Marnus Labuschagne scored 72 runs, and Alex Carey added 23 runs. For South Africa, Kagiso Rabada took 5 wickets, and Marco Jansen took 3 wickets.
South Africa also had a poor start to their first innings, ending the day with 4 wickets down for just 43 runs. The dismissed batsmen were Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Dean Elgar, and Tristan Stubbs. Currently, captain Temba Bavuma is at the crease with 3 runs, and David Bedingham is on 8 runs.