With South Africa’s fourth inning run-chase going strong in the WTC 2025 final, Steve Smith put down a straightforward chance off Temba Bavuma, almost dislocating his finger in the process. The incident happened in the 20th over off the bowling of Mitchell Starc.
Australia’s last wicket pair had put on the longest partnership in the Test thus far to help the Aussies set a strong target of 282. With the highest run-chase at the Lord’s staring at their face, South Africa walked out for the final innings against one of the best attacks of the modern era.
They lost Ryan Rickelton early, edging one to the slip cordon, before Aiden Markram and Wiaan Mulder put on a resolute stand to deny the Aussies more early wickets. Just as it seemed that South Africa were crawling their way back into the Test match, Mulder played a loose drive off Starc to be dismissed for 27 off 50 balls.
Temba Bavuma walked out at No.4, showing strong intent from the get-go, even uppishly driving a ball over the point region early on, in complete contrast to his defensive mindset in the first essay.
It was at this juncture, with the pitch exhibiting signs of uneven bounce that Starc came around the wicket to Bavuma. He tried to exploit the slowness of the wicket eke out a wicket, but instead one took off from a length to catch the blade of Bavuma’s bat on its way to Smith at first slip.
Until then, the ball was consistently dying in front of the slip cordon, so much so that Smith was wearing a helmet and fielding unusually close to the batter. This was a trend that was seen during the South African bowling innings too with the slip placement crucial to some catches. Marco Jansen had dropped a catch off Starc late on day two when he came closer, but had very little reaction time to clutch onto it.
Similarly, here, Smith was befuddled by the extra bounce that the delivery got with the ball coming onto his chest region at quick pace. With very low reaction time, Smith could only manage to get his finger onto it and hurt it in the process. He immediately let out a yelp and was soon seen calling the physiological for help and walked off the pitch. Cricket Australia later confirmed that Smith has suffered a compound dislocation of his right little finger.
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South Africa have a daunting task ahead as they chase 282 in the final innings of the World Test Championship final. The day had started with the Proteas in a promising position, having reduced Australia to 144 for 8. However, they were unable to polish off the tail quickly, and that lapse could prove costly.
Australia’s lower order, led by a defiant Mitchell Starc, added a crucial 63 runs in the morning session. Starc brought up a well-crafted half-century, one of the standout individual efforts in a low-scoring Test to push Australia’s second-innings total to 281. Given how challenging the surface has been throughout the game, every run felt like gold dust.
On a pitch that has constantly tested the batters with variable bounce and seam movement, South Africa now face the uphill task of scripting the highest successful chase in a WTC final. They folded for just 138 in their first innings, and the onus is now firmly on the batters to turn things around.
Close to tea on Day 3, the Proteas were 90 for 2, with captain Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram showing resolve at the crease. Both batters have looked assured in the middle, finding the occasional boundary and rotating strike smartly, but the challenge only intensifies from here. With two full days remaining and uneven bounce on offer, South Africa will need one of their greatest fourth-innings efforts in history to clinch their first-ever ICC trophy.
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