South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma hits back at critics, addressing doubts over their WTC journey and silencing them with a historic title win at Lord’s.

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma remained calm and composed as his team clinched the World Test Championship (WTC) title with a five-wicket win over Australia at Lord’s on Saturday. On the fourth day, South Africa required just 69 runs with eight wickets in hand.

Although Bavuma (66) and Tristan Stubbs (8) were dismissed early, Aiden Markram (136) and David Bedingham held their nerve to see the Proteas through to a historic victory.

Markram was dismissed with South Africa just five runs short of victory, but the Proteas comfortably wrapped up the match in the first session of Day 4, finally putting the ‘chokers’ tag to rest. After the win, captain Temba Bavuma shared his emotions, saying he could feel the energy at Lord’s and that the overwhelming crowd support made it feel like a home game in South Africa.

“It’s been a special couple of days. At some point, it felt like we were back in South Africa with all the support in the stands. We’ve prepared hard for this, we’ve worked hard for this moment. We came here with a lot of belief, I think also with a lot of doubts. We’re happy that we were able to play well enough to get that type of result,” said Bavuma at the post-match presentation.

“Special moment for us as a team, special moment for the people back home. Probably it’ll really sink in in a couple of days, but yeah, it’s been special,” he added.

This marks only South Africa’s second senior men’s ICC title. Their last ICC triumph came back in 1998 when they won the ICC Knockout Trophy. Over the years, the Proteas have consistently struggled to get past the semi-finals or finals, earning them the long-standing ‘chokers’ tag.

However, in the WTC final against Australia, South Africa showed no signs of pressure, as Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram led a confident chase of 282 to secure the win.

“I think obviously it was us as a team, we’ve been wanting this. We’ve been knocking at that door, being relentless, getting ourselves into positions where we can be in the finals.” added Bavuma

We’ve gone through the heartache, we’ve gone through the disappointment, seen it with past players who’ve come before us. The sun is on us at the moment; that responsibility, we’ve been carrying it and hopefully, this is one of many,” said Bavuma.

“Us as a team, we got ourselves into the final. There were doubters as to the route that we took, supposedly playing weaker teams. We’re happy that we were able to perform like this, and hopefully, that kind of squashes that. I think for us as a country, here’s an opportunity for us to, as divided as we are at times, forget all of that, rejoice at this moment and just be one.” Bavuma said

“I’m sure the people back home will be celebrating it with us, and you can trust that we’ll be celebrating it massively as well,” he added.” Bavuma concluded