On June 14, South Africa became the 3rd team to win the World Test Championship as they defeated the title-holders, Australia by 5 wickets while chasing down a big total of 282 runs.
Despite being behind in the game after winning the toss, getting Australia to 212 and conceding a healthy lead of 74 runs, South Africa pulled through with a famous chase, thanks to Aiden Markram's 136 and Temba Bavuma's 66.
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They had come into the final after topping the WTC table over the likes of former finalists, India and New Zealand. However, there had been a discourse about them having an easier path to the final and allegedly not playing tougher opponents.
Putting an end to this discussion, Australia captain Pat Cummins shut down the discussion and praised the Proteas for how they played to lift the mace. See what he had to say.
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What did Pat Cummins say after South Africa's WTC win?
During the post-match press conference after the loss, Cummins spoke about SA winning the match fair and square and focused on the fact that not all can have a similar path to the final.
He went on to term Bavuma and co. as the deserving champions of the WTC 2023-25 cycle.
"In terms of, you know, the way they made it, they made it fair and square — everyone has a slightly different, you know, route to make the final, but they absolutely deserve to make the final and showed why, you know, I think they're very deserving champions," he said.
Up next, starting from June 25, Australia will travel to the Caribbean for a three-match Test series to kick start their new cycle of the WTC before the long Ashes season at home at the end of the year.