South African cricketer Temba Bavuma is optimistic that his team can overcome their history of heartbreak in ICC tournaments as they prepare to take on reigning champions Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final next week.
Despite being a regular force in world cricket, South Africa’s only major ICC triumph came in 1998 at the ICC KnockOut, a predecessor to the Champions Trophy. Since then, the Proteas have been plagued by a string of painful exits on the world stage, often dramatically or cruelly.
Their opponents, Australia, head into the Lord’s final as firm favourites, boasting a formidable record in global competitions. The top-ranked team has clinched six ODI World Cups, two Champions Trophies, and the T20 World Cup, in addition to their recent WTC title win over India in 2023.
Speaking ahead of the showdown at Lord’s, Bavuma acknowledged the contrast in experience. “Australia know what it takes to win, and they’ve done it before,” he said. “But for us, this is about confidence in our capabilities. We earned this final; we weren’t gifted it.”
The 35-year-old captain is determined to write a different script for South Africa this time, saying the clash remains wide open. “We respect them, but it’s still 50-50 in our eyes.”
South Africa’s troubled history at ICC tournaments stretches back to their re-admittance to international cricket in 1992, when a rain-adjusted target famously required them to score 21 runs off one ball in a World Cup semi-final against England. That misfortune set the tone for subsequent disappointments.
In 1996, they dominated the group stages only to fall to the West Indies in the quarter-finals. The 1999 World Cup brought another gut-wrenching semi-final defeat to Australia after a tie and a disastrous run-out. In 2003, misreading the Duckworth-Lewis formula saw them eliminated at home during the group stage.
It wasn’t until the 2024 T20 World Cup that South Africa finally made it to a final. However, victory slipped away once again after Heinrich Klaasen’s explosive innings ended prematurely, followed by tight bowling from Jasprit Bumrah and a game-changing catch to dismiss David Miller in the dying moments.
While white-ball trophies have proven elusive, South Africa have enjoyed dominance in Test cricket. Under Graeme Smith’s leadership, they topped the world rankings in 2009 and held the prestigious ICC Test Mace from 2013 to 2015. Bavuma remains the only active player from the era when stars like Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn, and Hashim Amla powered the team.
Now, the only current player with a strong claim to join South Africa’s all-time greats is fast bowler Kagiso Rabada. Yet, Bavuma himself boasts an impressive leadership record — eight wins and a draw from nine tests as captain.
He credits head coach Shukri Conrad for instilling belief and unity in a team that lacks the big names of previous generations. Conrad has even taken cues from Rassie Erasmus, the Springboks’ mastermind who led South Africa to consecutive Rugby World Cup titles, including a string of one-point knockout wins in 2023.
“Playing for the Springboks is treated as the ultimate honour — and that same feeling needs to apply to representing the Proteas,” said Conrad, reflecting on his talks with Erasmus. “That’s the mindset we’re working to build.”
As they head to Lord’s, the Proteas hope that this time, the final chapter will be theirs to write — not another entry in a book of near misses.
