South Africa bowlers leave Australia reeling at start of WTC final

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Cricket - 2025 ICC World Test Championship Final - South Africa v Australia - Lord's Cricket Ground, London, Britain - June 11, 2025 South Africa's Kagiso Rabada celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Australia's Cameron Green, caught out by Aiden Markram Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers REUTERS

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Cricket - 2025 ICC World Test Championship Final - South Africa v Australia - Lord's Cricket Ground, London, Britain - June 11, 2025 Australia's Steve Smith in action Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers REUTERS

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Cricket - 2025 ICC World Test Championship Final - South Africa v Australia - Lord's Cricket Ground, London, Britain - June 11, 2025 South Africa's Marco Jansen celebrates with Tristan Stubbs after taking the wicket of Australia's Travis Head, caught out by Kyle Verreynne Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers REUTERS

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Cricket - 2025 ICC World Test Championship Final - South Africa v Australia - Lord's Cricket Ground, London, Britain - June 11, 2025 Australia's Steve Smith in action as he hits four runs Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers REUTERS

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Cricket - 2025 ICC World Test Championship Final - South Africa v Australia - Lord's Cricket Ground, London, Britain - June 11, 2025 South Africa's Kagiso Rabada celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Australia's Cameron Green, caught out by Aiden Markram Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers REUTERS

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UPDATED Jun 11, 2025, 07:53 PM

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LONDON - South Africa seamers Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen made early inroads into Australia's batting order as sharp catching had the defending champions reeling on 67-4 at lunch on the opening day of the World Test Championship at Lord’s on Wednesday.

Rabada, returning from a one-month ban after a drugs test earlier this year caught him using cocaine, took two wickets in four balls after cloudy conditions overhead prompted South Africa captain Temba Bavuma to put Australia in to bat.

Marco Jansen snagged the other wickets to vindicate a risky decision by Bavuma on a ground where the team winning the toss usually elects to bat first.

The 30-year-old Rabada made his breakthrough in the seventh over thanks to sharp catches in the slips, with Usman Khawaja first to go off after lasting 20 balls without scoring before edging to David Bedingham who caught a rising ball.

Cameron Green, returning to the test side after back surgery, was the next out. He immediately got off the mark with a boundary but was out after three balls as he edged Rabada to second slip, where Aiden Markram took a low catch despite Wiaan Mulder driving across him.

Rabada conceded only nine runs off his six overs in a menacing spell befitting a bowler second in the test rankings.

Marnus Labuschagne had been moved up the Australia batting order to accommodate Green at No. 3 and made 17 runs off 56 balls before edging Jansen’s full delivery outside the wicket behind to wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne.

A spectacular diving catch from Verreynne then saw Travis Head dismissed for 11 in the last over before lunch, leaving Steve Smith unbeaten on 26 after the first session, where the floodlights were on throughout as the cloud failed to clear.

Head played some aggressive shots in his brief stint while Smith survived a review when he missed a full ball from Jansen some 10 minutes before lunch. REUTERS

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