‘Unfortunately, this a bridge was far away’: Australia Captain Pat Cummins Rues Damage; South African Clinic WTC title | Cricket news

New Delhi: South Africa successfully followed the target of 282 before lunch on the fourth day, defeating Champions Australia by five wickets in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s on Saturday. Aiden Markram’s brilliant 136 and Captain Temba Bavuma’s 66 led South Africa to win, while Australia captain Pat Cummins admitted that his team was reduced to win against South African side with fewer star players.Australia initially took a lead of 74 runs after the first innings, but could not maintain its advantage as South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada gave an impressive performance with the 9–110 match figures.Go beyond the border with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!“Things can change very quickly. Unfortunately, it was a bridge very far,” Cummins said at the performance ceremony after the match.Steve Smith’s first holy score of 66 was only a half -century or better by an Australian expert batsman in the match. Smith’s participation in the upcoming first test against the West Indies in Barbados on 25 June is now uncertain due to a disorganized finger, leaving a slip catch.Cummins said, “We have found a few weeks before the first test in the Windies, so we will sit and think a little.”“To make these finals, it is usually far from the back of really strong at home, but you got to win some distance as well,” they later added to the post -match press conference. “So, in some ways, it is good that we lick ourselves dust and roam in a few weeks and start looking forward for the next one. This is one of the good things about the World Test Championship, every Test series and every Test match, it seems that you are playing for something important.,South Africa’s successful run chase marked the second largest in Lord’s in Test History, only behind the West Indies 344–1 against England in 1984.“He (South Africa) was fantastic in that fourth innings. There was not much in the wicket, but he did not give us a chance,” Cummins said.

The match concluded the third edition of the World Test Championship, after New Zealand’s victory in 2021 and Australia’s victory in 2023, India ended as runners -up in both examples.The championship format has faced criticism due to the freedom to determine the participation of its Test match during the two -year qualifying cycle. Without facing England or Australia, South Africa played only 12 Tests in the recent cycle, while Australia reached the final after winning 13 out of 19 matches.“He showed why he is in this final and qualified champions,” Cummins said about South Africa.Regarding the format, Cummins jokingly commented, “I had liked it at the last time,” before adding more seriously, “it’s something you make for two years, it’s a huge achievement to make the final, and then a one-game shootout, I think it’s a great spectacle.”Australia may need to re -assure their batting lineup as they start a new World Test Championship cycle, especially considering the conflicts of Marnas Labschagan, who scored an average of only 25.63 in tests during the 2024/25 season and scored only 17 and 22 runs in Lord’s after being promoted to the opener.