What if we get five wickets now and it is a tie?
@NTA said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
That's that. Well done them.
Hopefully a few lessons for us
Time to usher in some fresh blood
Have the Aussie team left the field?
Edit: there they are. Nothing worse than the second place medal
Australia lost this game by not scoring enough runs with the bat.
According to Chat GTP:
"Since 1989, there have been no Test matches in England where a team has won after scoring 429 runs or fewer across both innings combined. This threshold is notably below the typical winning scores in Test cricket, especially in the modern era.
For context, the lowest total to win a Test match in England is 252 runs, achieved by England against Australia at Edgbaston, Birmingham in 2005. In that match, England scored 407 runs in their first innings and 252 in their second innings, totaling 659 runs. Australia, in their second innings, managed 435 runs, resulting in a narrow victory for England by 2 runs.
Therefore, a combined total of 429 runs or fewer across both innings is insufficient for a team to win a Test match in England."
Time for them in inject some new batting talent (if they have any).
Great win by the Proteas. Always good to get one over Australia. This will put the Proteas next to Springbok rugby in South Africa. Our cricket has suffer long enough.
@OomPB I thought the South Africans bowled and fielded beautifully in this match and played the situation and the occasion wonderfully in their second innings. Rabada got the ball in all the right spots on the Lord's pitch and Markram was imperious with the bat in the final innings.
They deserve a heroes' welcome when they get back to RSA. Hopefully, it will lead to South Africa being involved in and hosting some longer Test Series again. You guys are an integral part of world Cricket.
Great effort SA.
Long live test cricket.
Genuinely pleased for this team of battlers. Australia will of course be back though !
@MN5 said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
Australia will of course be back though !
Eventually. I think we're about to enter an era much like post-McGrath and -Warne.
It's clear we've got some batters past their due date and stinking up the joint. In the old days they'd go play Shield to find form, but now they'll just go chasing cash.
Khawaja must surely be on the chopping block at 38? The last 2 years has seen his average slide, with only 2 tons (Birmingham June 2023 and Gaulle Jan 2025) for 2 years. Trend line in red.
Marnus not far behind IMHO tho at 30 maybe he's got time to course-correct. One ton in two years. Not good.
While being aware that they've come undone in some tough conditions, there have also been some very questionable shot selections in there.
Nathan Lyon - 37
Mitch Starc - 35
Josh Hazlewood - 34
Pat Cummins - 32
Hopefully we can squeeze a couple more years out of these guys while new bats come through
A little bit of trivia that South Africa were allocated as the Home Team so Markram and Rabada's achievements at Lord's will go the Home Honours Boards normally reserved for England players.
@NTA said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
Nathan Lyon - 37
Mitch Starc - 35
Josh Hazlewood - 34
Pat Cummins - 32Hopefully we can squeeze a couple more years out of these guys while new bats come through
Get them in touch with Paddles ( you might have heard of him, a real piston wristed gibbon according to Australians on the banks in the 80s ) but by crikey he could bowl.
Played his last test match at 39 after being knighted. Took a wicket with his last ball in test cricket to complete five for the innings a then record 36th time.
THAT is how you bow out.
But seriously, quite surprised at how old they all are. In my mind they're still in their 20s.
Then again in my mind I'm only pushing 40, not 48.
South Africa have some excellent young talent on the block. Sadly we lost our best batter Heinrich Klaassen. India played a big role in our cricket development. Marko Jansen was used by the touring Indians as a net bowler and got him into IPL. Luandrhe Pretorius is 19 years old and already in the IPL.
sadly not much test cricket around these days.
Fun fact for you polish hawt nerds
The first three WTCC have been won by the first three RWC champs, in the same order.
That is crazy statistically ... WAS IT RIGGED???
@nzzp said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
Fun fact for you polish hawt nerds
The first three WTCC have been won by the first three RWC champs, in the same order.
That is crazy statistically ... WAS IT RIGGED???
No wonder India have been shit
@MN5 said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
@nzzp said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
Fun fact for you polish hawt nerds
The first three WTCC have been won by the first three RWC champs, in the same order.
That is crazy statistically ... WAS IT RIGGED???
No wonder India have been shit
Have lost a few finals, tbf so have we...
@Virgil said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
@MN5 said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
@nzzp said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
Fun fact for you polish hawt nerds
The first three WTCC have been won by the first three RWC champs, in the same order.
That is crazy statistically ... WAS IT RIGGED???
No wonder India have been shit
Have lost a few finals, tbf so have we...
Yeah but if you were picking a combined Rugby XV from NZ and India I wouldn't pick a single Indian player
@MN5 said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
@Virgil said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
@MN5 said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
@nzzp said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
Fun fact for you polish hawt nerds
The first three WTCC have been won by the first three RWC champs, in the same order.
That is crazy statistically ... WAS IT RIGGED???
No wonder India have been shit
Have lost a few finals, tbf so have we...
Yeah but if you were picking a combined Rugby XV from NZ and India I wouldn't pick a single Indian player
racist
@MN5 said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
Yeah but if you were picking a combined Rugby XV from NZ and India I wouldn't pick a single Indian player
there they are, between B&H and Toyland
@MN5 said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
Yeah but if you were picking a combined Rugby XV from NZ and India I wouldn't pick a single Indian player
Who will ask for bobs and vagene?
Brutal result for Australia, and a real big "fuck you" to the many people who said SA didn't belong there (conveniently forgetting India getting their asses handed to them at home by us) simply because they sent a weakened team to NZ and upset the "purists".
Good toss to win, as the pitch flattened out just in time for the Aus tail to face a couple of hundred balls, which would have heartened the SA top order. How good for a guy that averages mid-30s to score a big hundred to win a final! Bavuma is a little fighter as well.
For Australia, you reap what you sow. Cameron Green has 1,300 test runs at 30, and has been out of the test arena for a while, why in the fuck do you pick him at 3? Faced 5 balls combined. Khawaja being able to get a big score in Sri Lanka where he didn't have to move his feet disguised that he is cooked. Marnus's return looks okay given everyone else around him, but still scored less than 40 total runs, and his complete lack of intent over the past couple of years is really hurting him. The three of them all failing could be seen a mile off.
Head only getting 20 was probably the surprise.
Sort of old school Black Caps where the middle and lower order score the runs.
Now they go to the Windies and will probably be without Steve Smith for most of it. Which means reprieves all round.
Dan Vettori the new Agent Robbie.
Maybe for Cummins.
Lyon would be like 43
Starc about the same
Hazlewood's body will completely let him down before then
The only other guy who gets a run is Boland and he would be in his 40s as well.
@nzzp said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
@MN5 said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
Yeah but if you were picking a combined Rugby XV from NZ and India I wouldn't pick a single Indian player
there they are, between B&H and Toyland
Jeepers. Poor old Ivory Coast are rated below India but actually made the WC in 95 when there were only 16 teams !!
Very pleased for SA and their long suffering fans to see them finally get 1 on the board. In odd game in that an unplayable pitch on days 1 and 2 turned into a featherbed on day 3 but that's cricket for you. Fantastic innings by Makram as usually it has been the SA batters that have folded on the big stage and not so their bowling attack.
Always nice seeing history being played out.
@mariner4life said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
Maybe for Cummins.
Lyon would be like 43
Starc about the same
Hazlewood's body will completely let him down before then
The only other guy who gets a run is Boland and he would be in his 40s as well.
One or two of them will surely sign-off after the Ashes at the end of the year?
Might be something similar to when Lillee, Marsh and Greg Chappell all finished at te same time?
Can't begrudge the Saffers. Well done. Good to see someone breaking the big three dominance. Hope it leads to different decisions being made at the top level, but I doubt it will.
Didn't watch a ball of this one. I'm a big cricket fan but just struggled to care. Whether that's the timing, the fact it was on Amazon, the fact Australia were behind from the start, I don't know. Unsure what the WTC really is going forward, at very least you've got to have the final somewhere other than England?
@Virgil said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
Just how fucked would OZ be without Cummins, Starc, Hazelwood and Lyon?
I'm just not sure we would be.
Like kiwis and backrowers, we just seem to have a production line of very good fast bowlers. There's a pretty handy bunch in domestic cricket at the moment that would do well. Maybe not 'all time great' well but I don't think you'd see an enormous drop-off.
@barbarian said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
the fact Australia were behind from the start
To be fair to the Saffas effort on Day 3, at the end of Days 1 & 2 I'd have taken the Australian position on the scoreboard.
There was a fair bit of assistance to the bowlers on the first couple of days, but from what little I saw before usually falling asleep with the time difference - also helped by a few generous gaps between bat and pad.
Am just thinking... in 40 years of watching cricket, perhaps 1985/86 and around 2010ish are about the only times I can remember Australia having anything less than a fully scary bowling attack?
@Donsteppa For many years just having Shane Warne in the team was scary enough let alone anyone else 
11 shots of Jay Shah in a 44 sec clip purportedly about the WTC final.
Unsure whether the ICC social media department are sycophants, trolls or both.
@Windows97 said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:
@Donsteppa For many years just having Shane Warne in the team was scary enough let alone anyone else
He did his best to keep Daryl Cullinan's therapist in business.