South Africa’s leading paceman Kagiso Rabada says it is time to move on from the euphoria of beating Australia in the World Test Championship final while admitting a belated major trophy success has come as a relief to his team.

Rabada will lead South Africa’s attack as they take on Australia in three Twenty20 clashes and three one-day Internationals starting in Darwin on Sunday.

“I think it was special, and I’ve done so many interviews on that since,” Rabada said of South Africa’s victory over Australia at Lord’s in June.

“I think it’s time to move on. I don’t think we’ll forget about that ever as a team, and South Africa won’t ever (forget), but time to move on now.” he told a press conference on Thursday.

The five-wicket win in the WTC final followed several frustrating near misses for South Africa in limited-overs World Cups.

“It was kind of like a relief. But the show moves on, and moving toward the T20 World Cup, I guess the approach will be a bit different. Now, you know, there’s no fear of anything.”

Rabada is relishing a reprisal of the rivalry between Australia and South Africa.

“It’s always some hard cricket being played, some good cricket,” he said. “Whenever we play Australia, I always feel like they get the best out of us, because they’re sort of in our faces. And I guess we like that.”

Rababa, who turned 30 in May, has not played since the WTC final in London.

“Thankfully, I’ve had quite a long break, so that’s been awesome. Maintenance work consistently has to be done because the volume of cricket is quite a bit.”

The Australia tour comes ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, and the 2027 World Cup in Southern Africa, and South Africa hope the experience will benefit the young players in their squad.

“For me that’s extremely exciting to see them raring to go. It’s just about trying to see where we’re at as a team, moving into almost like another generation,” Rabada added.

Reuters

The post Time to move on from South Africa’s WTC win, says Rabada appeared first on Inside Politic.

Victory in the World Test Championship final over Australia ended South Africa’s agonising 27-year wait for an ICC trophy, and coach Shukri Conrad believes more success is not far off following a rapturous welcome home in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

South Africa won by five wickets at Lord’s to end decades of heartache in major ICC competitions and were celebrated by several thousand supporters at OR Tambo International airport.

Conrad has been test coach for a little over two years but also recently took over the white ball teams. He believes the triumph can be a catalyst for success across all formats.

“If you have a test team that is strong and plays regularly, that has spin-offs for the other formats,” he told reporters. “When you have a good test team, you’ll have good teams in (white ball cricket) because a good player is a good player.”

The amount of test cricket South Africa play has been a major talking point with Conrad previously saying it was no secret they want more games.

But the new world champions are not scheduled to play a home test until October 2026, and will take a weakened squad on a two-test tour of Zimbabwe that starts on June 28.

Scheduling more games is a complex issue given the cost of hosting series for cash-strapped Cricket South Africa.

Conrad says while their financial muscle means they may not match the so-called ‘Big Three’ of India, Australia and England off the field of play, they can certainly do so on it.

“We don’t feel like underdogs and we believe we are one of the top teams in the world,” he said. “We may not have played Australia and England in the league phase (of the World Test Championship) but we played Australia in the final and would not have had it any other way.

“We feel we belong at the main table. (Being underdogs) was never a conversation in our team meetings. Everyone dubbed Australia as favourites, perhaps on the back of their experience more than anything else.

“But we create our own reality and are the test champions now.”

Reuters

The post Test championship win proves South Africa’s cricket credentials appeared first on Inside Politic.

South Africa tailenders Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen hung in against relentless fast bowler Mohammad Abbas for a tense two-wicket win in the first test on Sunday to seal the Proteas’ place in next year’s World Test Championship final.

Jansen (16 not out) overshadowed Abbas’ brilliant figures of 6-54 with a square driven boundary against the fast bowler as South Africa reached 150-8 just after lunch on Day 4 and escaped with a close win in the opener of the two-match series.

“Quite an emotional moment for me, good advert for test cricket,” said South Africa captain Temba Bavuma, who made 40. “We haven’t been ruthless but have found a way to ensure the result was on our side. Lot of joy and happiness on our side, a bit of a rollercoaster, glad that we were able to get the result.”

Abbas, making a comeback after more than three years in the test wilderness, had knocked back South Africa’s tricky chase of 148 runs in a marathon 13-over spell before lunch on Day 4 as the home team limped to 99-8, losing four wickets for three runs.

However, Rabada changed gears in an unbroken 51-run stand with Jansen and made an unbeaten 31 off 26 balls with five fours to seal a memorable victory and denied Pakistan its first test win in South Africa in almost 18 years.

South Africa had started this WTC cycle with a 1-1 drawn series against India before getting swept 2-0 in New Zealand. But since then the Proteas have beaten West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to stay on top of the table.

“It (WTC final) is a big one, not just for myself but also the team and the coach,” Bavuma said. “The way we started our campaign, against India and then New Zealand with a not-so-strong team, and the way we have gone through with our performances, not many gave us a chance.”

India, Australia and Sri Lanka are the other teams still in contention for next June’s WTC final against South Africa at Lord’s.

Captain Temba Bavuma (40) and Aiden Markram (37) had thwarted Abbas for an hour after South Africa resumed at a wobbly 27-3, still needing 121 for victory.

Bavuma’s controversial dismissal punctuated a South Africa collapse in the latter half of first session with Abbas grabbing three off his six balls in a sensational home team collapse.

Bavuma, who made 40, surprisingly didn’t request a television review when replays suggested that Abbas’ ball had brushed the batter’s pocket and didn’t make contact with the inside edge of the bat but the South African skipper walked back to the dressing room.

Abbas bowled an unchanged marathon spell of 13 overs, but had to wait as Markram and Bavuma saw off eight overs from the fast bowlers.

Resuming at 27-3, Bavuma and Markram showed plenty of patience against Abbas’ probing line and length before the fast bowler finally got the breakthrough after the first drinks break.

Abbas was rewarded for his brilliant seam bowling when he beat the outside edge of Markram’s bat and knocked back the off stump.

Bavuma survived a couple of close chances when he successfully overturned an on-field lbw decision against him early in the day and Naseem Shah couldn’t hold onto a sharp catch at fine leg as he overstepped the boundary cushion while grabbing the ball over his head.

South Africa had controlled the game at 96-4 before Bavuma’s dismissal saw Abbas finding the outside edges of David Bedingham (14) and Corbin Bosch’s (0) bat off successive deliveries and in between Kyle Verreynne dragged Naseem Shah’s delivery back onto his stumps.

Abbas found the outside edge of Rabada’s bat in his first over after lunch that fell just short of wicketkeeper Rizwan before both tailenders took the team home.

“Extremely proud of the efforts, but going forward we need to be ruthless,” Pakistan captain Shan Masood said. “We keep making the same mistakes but we have to get over the line, seize moments.”

The second test begins at Cape Town on Friday.

AP

The post South Africa seals place in World Test Championship final with a tense 2-wicket win against Pakistan appeared first on Inside Politic.