At Lord’s, history was made after 145 years when Australia and South Africa shared a rare record

The opening day of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final between Australia and South Africa at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground unfolded with riveting drama, outstanding pace bowling, and an extraordinary statistical moment that stunned cricket fans. The day belonged largely to Kagiso Rabada, who delivered a sensational performance with the ball, claiming five wickets and playing a crucial role in dismissing Australia for a modest total of 212 runs. Marco Jansen provided strong backing, contributing three key wickets to dismantle Australia’s batting lineup.

However, the Australians bounced back fiercely during the final session of play. Mitchell Starc emerged as the spearhead of the fightback, removing two top-order South African batters with precision. His effort was complemented by disciplined spells from Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, each of whom picked up a wicket, leaving South Africa reeling at 43 for 4 by the close of play.

Among the many notable events of the day was an unprecedented moment in Test history. For the first time in 145 years of Test cricket played in England—a span that includes 561 Tests—both teams’ top-ranked batters were dismissed for a duck in their respective first innings. The unlucky batsmen who fell without scoring, Usman Khawaja of Australia and Aiden Markram of South Africa, gave the already dramatic day an odd twist.

Not only did Rabada help tip the scales in South Africa’s favor, but his remarkable run of 5 for 51 in little under 16 overs solidified his place in cricket history.  This accomplishment put the 30-year-old pace ahead of the all-time great Allan Donald, who took 332 Test wickets in 71 games.  This achievement puts him in fourth place on South Africa’s all-time list of Test wicket-takers. He also became the second bowler, after New Zealand’s Kyle Jamieson in the 2021 WTC Final, to secure a five-wicket haul in a WTC title clash. Additionally, Rabada is the only bowler from South Africa to accomplish this in an ICC competition final since Jacques Kallis in the 1998 ICC Knockout final. Impressively, he now shares the third spot for most wickets by a South African in ICC knockout matches, tying with Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock with 11 wickets, just behind Kallis who leads with 14.