SUIT UP

TEMBA Bavuma kook nie sag nie and one time named the Proteas’ XI for today’s World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord’s at 11.30am. 

South Africa captain Bavuma will bat at No.4, with Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton opening the batting. 

Allrounder Wiaan Mulder will come in at No.3, with the rest of the team being Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynn, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi. 

Bavuma was in no mood to play games yesterday and says his team can’t wait to take the field - hulle is nou moeg gewag. 

Bavuma said in his pre-match conference yesterday: “[Now it’s about] getting down to the fact that we have to play the game. We just have to be ready for what is to come. We know that it will be tough against Australia. 

“It’s time for emotions and stories and all of that to put it behind us and play what’s in front of us.”  

Bavuma admits that picking Ngidi ahead of Dane Paterson was a tough decision and says they have learnt a lot since they last played Pat Cummins and his Australia brasse. 

Australia beat South Africa 2-0 in the last series back in 2022-23, but Bavuma says: “The last time wasn’t a good time, but we have a couple of new faces from that series. 

“It was a bit of an eye-opener there, seeing how they go about their business…

“[But] that gave me an opportunity to see where I can improve. 

“A guy like [coach] Shukri [Conrad] coming in was at the right time, encouraging guys to be themselves and playing best cricket. Hopefully those memories are behind us and we can create new ones...”