London, Jun 10: The hard work of over two years will finally end for Australia and South Africa, who will be locking horns in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Lord's starting on Wednesday.

Defending champions Australia, led by Pat Cummins, have the golden opportunity to become the first team to retain the title in its third edition. They defeated India at The Oval in 2023 to win the last edition.

On the other hand, Temba Bavuma's South Africa will play their first WTC final after topping the standings on the back of winning seven of their last eight matches. Though this might be their first red-ball summit clash, they have become regulars in ICC knockout matches in recent years.

South Africa reached the semifinals of the 2023 ODI World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy, while they finished runners-up in last year's T20 World Cup against Rohit Sharma-led India. Their only ICC title came in 1998 when they lifted the Champions Trophy.

Meanwhile, Cummins will look to add another ICC silverware to his cabinet after guiding the side to the 2023 ODI World Cup title against India in Ahmedabad.

Let's take a look at five players who have the potential to shift the tide in their favour during the WTC final:

David Bedingham: South Africa's right-handed batter has been the highest run-getter for the side in the WTC 2023-25 cycle with 645 runs in 12 games, including the maiden Test century against New Zealand in February 2024. He also excelled in English domestic cricket, scoring 200 runs more than anyone else in Division One of the County Championship last season, and his 279 against Lancashire was the highest score in Durham’s first-class history.

Travis Head: The left-handed experienced batter has a liking for ICC title clashes. In the last WTC final, he played a knock of 163 runs against India, which made a huge difference between the two sides and awarded him the Player of the Match accolade. He replicated his heroics in the 2023 ODI World Cup final, scoring a match-winning 137 against India. In the current WTC cycle, he has scored 1,177 runs in 19 games with the help of three centuries and five fifties. He is the third-highest run-scorer for Australia in the period behind Usman Khawaja (1,422 runs) and Steve Smith (1,324 runs).

Ryan Rickelton: The stylish left-hander made a dream start to 2025, scoring 259 against Pakistan at Newlands during his first innings as a Test opener before winning the SA20 with MI Cape Town. An all-round sportsman growing up, Rickelton has been in and out of the Test side since his debut in 2022 but will hope that New Year’s knock – the joint-seventh highest Test score by a South African – will cement his place for Lord’s.

Pat Cummins: The Australian skipper has established himself as one of the great fast bowlers in his country’s storied history. It has been 14 years since he made his Test debut as an 18-year-old, and his 294 Test wickets put him eighth all-time among Australians, with Glenn McGrath the only player with a better bowling average than Cummins’ 22.43 of the top 10.

Kagiso Rabada: An elite pace bowler, Rabada is fifth on South Africa’s all-time list of Test wicket-takers and arrives at Lord’s three shy of levelling Allan Donald’s tally of 330. He is ranked second in the world in Tests, with only Jasprit Bumrah ahead of him, and he is already on the honours board at the Home of Cricket after taking five for 52 against England in 2022.

(IANS)

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