South Africa (Commonwealth) _According to the ICC, South Africa Test captain Temba Bavuma stated that the World Test Championship table now appears to be in excellent shape after the Proteas defeated Sri Lanka in the second Test match.
South Africa crushed Sri Lanka with a 109-run victory on Day 5 of the second Test, capping a 2-0 series thumping of the Asian team. On the last day of the Test and the series, South Africa was only five wickets away from a perfect sweep, while Sri Lanka was 143 runs away from tying the series.
In order to win the series and strengthen their position heading into the World Test Championship final in London the following year, the hosts stepped up their game.
Silva perceived the match as relatively close, and his team persevered to maintain competitiveness until the final day of the Test, despite the conditions being different from their home ground. With two games left in the WTC 2023–2025 cycle, Bavuma stated after the game that he sees the Proteas at the top of the points table.
“The championship table appears to be well-made. With two games remaining, we consider ourselves the top team. Our cricket game is going well, and we want it to continue. I’m not sure how the math looks, Bavuma said.
He continued by stating that the five-day duration of the South Africa vs. Sri Lanka Test match was unusual. The Proteas Test captain acknowledged that Sri Lanka occasionally gained momentum during the match.
For many of the boys, it provided a true sense of what Test cricket is all about. Playing for five days and having the game constantly in the balance are both uncommon. He went on to explain that there were times when we were in control, and other times when Sri Lanka was taking the lead.
South Africa will play Pakistan in a two-match Test series beginning on December 26 after defeating Sri Lanka 2-0 in the Test series.
In what would have been unimaginable less than a year ago, South Africa’s victory over Sri Lanka in their two-test series on Monday propelled them to the top of the World Test Championship and placed them squarely on track to make it to the final the following year.
South Africa leads the test results table for the most recent two-year cycle with five straight test victories—two in October against Bangladesh, two against Sri Lanka, and one away victory against the West Indies in Guyana—and is just one win away from qualifying for the final at Lord’s from June 11–15.
In addition to their 233-run victory in Durban a week earlier, they defeated Sri Lanka by 109 runs on Monday at St George’s Park in Gqeberha.
South Africa will guarantee their spot in the final if they win the two-test home series against Pakistan, which begins in Pretoria on Boxing Day.
Coach Shukri Conrad expressed low expectations for the team after the 2023–25 WTC cycle began with a 1–1 series draw against India and then effectively forfeited a two-test series in New Zealand in February after losing to avoid a clash of dates with the SA20 league. “We weren’t even considering this when we went to the West Indies in August,” he said.
Instead of sending an under-strength team, half of which had no prior test experience, Cricket South Africa permitted its best test players to remain at home and earn high wages in the domestic Twenty20 competition.
However, South Africa has gained ground with five victories in their last six test matches, which may help the lengthier format of the game in a nation where it is in danger.
To the players’ chagrin, South Africa already plays a lot fewer tests than other nations—12 in the most recent WTC cycle, compared to 21 for England and 19 for both Australia and India.
T20 cricket is the most popular sport in South Africa, but many players still hold test cricket in the highest regard, skipper Temba Bavuma said during a press conference.
Poor crowds, however, are an issue. Pholetsi Moseki, the chief executive of CSA, stated, “Many people claim that we don’t play enough tests, but they don’t even attend the few test matches that we have.”
