SA vs AUS, WTC 2025 Final: Toss result and playing 11s, umpires list and pitch report

South Africa are taking on Australia in the 2025 ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final at the iconic Lord's Cricket Stadium. The Aussies are the defending champions, having beaten India in the 2023 final at The Oval. As for the Proteas, they will be making their maiden appearance in the WTC final. Australia will begin the final as favorites, but South Africa have a chance to create history.

Both South Africa and Australia had to make tough choices in the bowling department while finalizing their playing XIs. The Proteas left out Dane Paterson in favor of Lungi Ngidi. As for the Aussies, Josh Hazlewood was picked over Scott Boland. Meanwhile, Wiaan Mulder and Cameron Green have been picked as the No. 3 batters for South Africa and Australia, respectively.

If we look at the head-to-head battle between the two sides, Australia have won 54 matches and South Africa 26. The Proteas, however, have been a lot more competitive in recent years and should be a confident lot as such.

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SA vs AUS, WTC 2025 Final - Toss result

South Africa have won the toss and have opted to bowl first. Temba Bavuma said:

“We will bowl first looking at the overhead conditions. We have selected the best combination. It is a massive final.”

Australian captain Pat Cummins asserted that he is happy to bat first.

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SA vs AUS, WTC 2025 Final - Match playing XIs

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

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

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SA vs AUS, WTC 2025 Final - Pitch report

“It is cloudy, but there’s a very slight chance of rain. The pitch will play really nicely - it looks a nice surface and it should be great to bat on Day 2. It's a big decision to make at the toss for the captains given the cloud cover.” - Nasser Hussain and Stuart Broad

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SA vs AUS, WTC 2025 Final - Match players list

South Africa squad: Ryan Rickelton, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (c), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Dane Paterson, Tony de Zorzi, Corbin Bosch, Senuran Muthusamy

Australia squad: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, Josh Inglis, Sam Konstas, Matthew Kuhnemann

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SA vs AUS, WTC 2025 Final - Match umpires

On-field umpires: Chris Gaffaney, Richard Illingworth

TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough

Match Referee: Javagal Srinath