WTC Final 2025: South Africa wins first ICC trophy in 27 years, ends title jinx

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South Africa claimed its first International Cricket Council (ICC) trophy in 27 years after beating Australia by five wickets in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord's on Saturday.

The Proteas' last piece of ICC silverware was the 1998 KnockOut Trophy, later renamed as the ICC Champions Trophy. Since that title triumph, South Africa endured a heartbreaking run of close finishes in ICC tournaments, exiting in the semifinals on 11 occasions while losing one final -- the T20 World Cup 2024 summit clash against India.

The WTC final win comes as redeeming touch for a country where the oldest format of the game is struggling to survive. The Proteas were forced to send an understrength team to New Zealand for a two-match series in February last year as their frontline Test players had to fulfil their contractual obligations to SA20 -- the country's marquee T20 franchise league.

South Africa bounced back from that setback by winning eight of the next nine Tests it played, with the unbeaten streak eventually culminating in an elusive ICC title win.

At the helm of South Africa's turnaround is skipper Temba Bavuma, who is yet to lose a Test as captain after 10 matches.

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