South Africa became the first team to book a place in the 2025 WTC final thanks to a thrilling victory against Pakistan in Centurion. They responded with another victory in Cape Town and won the series 2-0.

With 8 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw, South Africa is on top of the table and will finish on top no matter what happens in the Sri Lanka vs Australia series.

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Rabada: Confident and ready for the Australians

South Africa’s star pacer Kagiso Rabada has already started setting the tone for the WTC final against Australia. Rabada is South Africa’s most successful bowler in this WTC cycle with 47 wickets in 10 matches.

“It’s actually quite far away, but a big occasion like the World Test Championship final lifts you up,” Rabada said.

He expressed full confidence in his team’s ability to handle Australia, emphasizing their strong rivalry and similar styles of hard-playing cricket. Rabada stressed that South Africa knows how to beat Australia and is ready to meet their aggression head-on.

“South Africa versus Australia has always been an intense rivalry, because we play cricket quite similarly. We play hard, and they’re going to attack us hard, and we know it. But we also know how to beat them.”

Rabada also reinforced his passion for Test cricket, calling it the purest and most exciting format, especially for South Africa. He credited the recent series against Pakistan for showing how exciting the format can be, not only for the team but also for the fans.

“One hundred percent, Test cricket is still alive. It is our best format that we have been playing so far. When you look at South African cricket and all our legends, they have all been great Test cricketers. “The best players in the world are Test cricketers, and this series against Pakistan has been a wonderful advertisement for Test cricket, especially in South Africa.”

Conrad: strategic preparations before the final

South Africa coach Shukri Conrad praised the team’s form and stressed the importance of preparing for the WTC final in English conditions.

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He mentioned the possibility of organizing a preparatory test against Afghanistan or Ireland in the United Kingdom. If that is not possible, the team will plan an extended training camp in Canterbury to simulate match conditions and finalize their strategies.

“We are going to try to get a test match, possibly in the UK, against Ireland or Afghanistan, whoever is free. And if we don’t make it, obviously we’ll leave a couple of days early and make sure we camp there really well, probably in Canterbury,” Conrad said on SuperSport.

Australia awaits in the final

Australia secured their place in the final after a convincing series win against India, ending a 10-year drought in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

While they still have an away series against Sri Lanka, their place in the final is all but guaranteed unless penalty points for over-slow pace affect their position.

For the first time, India will not participate in a WTC final after having appeared in the previous two editions.

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