Proteas end title drought with famous Test triumph

South Africa's cricket team are world champions for the first time, ending years of heartbreak with a stunning boilover to beat Australia in the World Test Championship final at Lord's.

Kyle Verreynne completed the emphatic comeback on the stroke of lunch on day four, sealing a five-wicket victory by punching Mitchell Starc through the off-side before embracing batting partner David Bedingham mid-pitch.

Opener Aiden Markram's incredible 136 took the Proteas within one hit of victory, receiving a standing ovation and handshakes from the Australian players when he was out six shy of the target.

It was a result that scarcely looked likely as they began their chase after lunch the previous day, already requiring the highest total in the match, a 59-run stand from Australia's last wicket pair also left them needing to match the second-highest successful fourth-innings run chase at the Home of Cricket.

Two wickets to left-armer Starc put Australia on course early but a dropped catch off his bowling which led to a serious finger injury to star batter Steve Smith proved a decisive moment with Temba Bavuma given a life on two.

Markram and captain Bavuma took advantage of the best batting conditions in the match on day three as they took control of the WTC final and put South Africa on track for their most famous victory.

The experienced pair resumed day four with just 69 runs standing between them and South African cricketing history, with every run drawing loud cheers from a strong army of supporters as they edged their way towards their target of 282.

Captain Pat Cummins briefly gave Australia something to celebrate when he dismissed Bavuma caught behind for 66, the Proteas skipper only able to add one to his overnight score as he carried on despite being hobbled by a hamstring injury suffered while running a quick single the previous day.

But Markram showed no sign of nerves as he crashed Cummins for boundaries square of the wicket on both sides, the second coming after the Aussie skipper burned a review on a speculative lbw shout as they searched desperately for a breakthrough.

The right-hander's incredible century was his second fourth-innings ton against Australia after hitting 143 in a losing cause in Durban in 2018, this time taking his side to an unlosable position when he clipped Hazlewood to midwicket to end a 207-ball epic with six runs to win.

Key to Markram's brilliant knock was his nullification of spinner Nathan Lyon, who went wicketless in a Test where he's bowled more than one over for the first time since Australia's innings loss to the Proteas on a greentop in Hobart in 2016.

Cummins lost another review unsuccessfully chasing Tristan Stubbs caught down the leg side and burned their last when he sent another lbw appeal upstairs that clearly struck Bedingham outside off stump as he attempted a pull shot to a ball that kept low.

In between those reviews, Starc castled Stubbs for a cautious 43-ball eight with 41 still needed to win, but Bedingham, SA's top scorer from the first innings, put the pressure back on Australia to finish 21 not out when the winning runs were hit.

The crowning moment came four overs after the Aussies took the second new ball, with Verreynne first trying to ramp (which was given not out despite touching his glove through to Alex Carey) before hitting the winning run as his teammates jubilantly embraced on the balcony.

Having surrendered a 74-run deficit after being bowled out for 138 in their first innings on day two, spearhead Kagiso Rabada (4-59) and Marco Jansen (1-58) hauled the Proteas back into the contest as they made light work of Australia's new-look top three for the second time in the match.

The Test decider had begun in similar fashion on Wednesday as Rabada, who ended with a match-high nine wickets, and new ball partner Jansen quickly accounted for Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head to leave the world's No.1-ranked Test team 4-67 at lunch on the opening day.

But Lungi Ngidi (3-38) ensured there was no repeat of Smith and Beau Webster's rearguard in the second innings on day two as he accounted for both lbw as well as captain Pat Cummins as Australia slumped to 7-73.

Alex Carey (43) and Starc (58no) – the latter's highest Test score in eight years – pushed Australia's lead to 218 by the end of the second day, but the wicketkeeper's dismissal in the shadows of stumps was another one of those 'what-if' moments with the Lord's surface already showing signs of flattening out leading into the pivotal third day.

Markram and Bavuma proceeded to put the Proteas' years of World Cup misery to bed as they batted their side to a position of dominance throughout the day's final two sessions, before they returned on Saturday to put the finishing touches on historic moment in South Africa cricket.

After five World Cup semi-final eliminations – including three against Australia (1999, 2007 and 2023) – as well as an agonising loss to India in last year's T20 World Cup final, South Africa finally have their hands on a major piece of ICC silverware.

They have of course held the Test mace before, from 2012-16 under Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla's leadership, but with the prize now awarded to the winner of the biennial Test tournament, it was Bavuma who went where no SA captain has gone before by taking his nation to their first ever world title with their eighth straight Test win.

It was the one that got away for his counterpart Cummins and his Australian side, missing a chance to become the first team to win multiple WTC crowns when the match swung on the third day.

Despite the loss, they remain the No.1-ranked Test team in the world and will take confidence from being the only side not to lose a series during the 2023-25 cycle as they steel themselves for a massive six months of Test cricket as they kick off the next WTC period in 11 days against the West Indies before a blockbuster home Ashes begins in November.

World Test Championship Final

June 11-15: South Africa win by five wickets

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Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

South Africa XI: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (c), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi