Proteas hope risks bring rewards in WTC final, as both XIs revealed

There were no secrets from the two captains before this World Test Championship final. None of that ‘we want to take one more look at the pitch in morning’ nonsense before announcing the starting team. 

Pat Cummins revealed his starting side on Thursday for the World Test Championship (WTC) final that starts at Lord’s on Wednesday (11.30am SA time), just as Temba Bavuma had done an hour earlier.

Both teams had top-order decisions to make, along with the composition of their respective attacks. The Australians will open with Marnus Labuschagne, while the South Africans will play Wiaan Mulder at No 3. 

The Proteas also chose Lungi Ngidi over Dane Paterson, which Bavuma described as “one of the tougher decisions that have been made”. Cummins said virtually the same thing about picking Josh Hazlewood instead of Scott Boland.

Ngidi is a risk, simply because he hasn’t played much under Conrad. In one of those two Tests, he wrapped up the Indian tail on that minefield at Newlands. Last year’s first match against the West Indies was the last time he started a Test. 

Paterson took two “five-fers” last season, was the senior bowler in that “C team” that toured New Zealand and generally, when the front-line players were back, did the ugly work, especially in Gqeberha against Sri Lanka.

At Lord’s which has been his home ground over the last few months with Middlesex, his form hasn’t been as good — 11 wickets at 43.72 in five matches — but what swayed the selectors’ opinion was ultimately Ngidi’s ability to get extra bounce from the surface.

“The selection was more from a tactical point of view, you know, [Lungi] probably has a little bit more pace, he’s taller as well,” said Bavuma.

His presence means South Africa will match Australia in terms of height in their attack, so should a bouncer battle commence, as was the case when Cummins’ team won at Lord’s against England in 2023, the Proteas will have the weaponry to stand toe to toe with the opposition. 

Ngidi, who has had his differences with Conrad in the last two years, certainly won’t be lacking motivation this week. He has a point to prove to the coach, his captain and himself about his value to the Proteas and in this format. 

Since making his first class debut for Northerns in 2016, he’s played only 33 first class matches and in those — which include 19 Tests — he’s bowled 20 overs or more in an innings just four times and never in the same match. 

His stamina has long been a question mark as has his work ethic. But Conrad, when naming the WTC squad last month, praised Ngidi’s fitness adding he was impressed by how strong he looked.

The Mulder decision is another that carries significant risk. Even more so than Australia deciding Labuschagne will open and Cameron Green will bat at 3, Mulder in the top order is a gamble. He’s not batted there for his province, the Lions, and only did it in two innings last season — once to manage a broken finger.

“Mulder is quite young, obviously, in that position. But having played with him provincially, and [with] how he's kind of grown in the last two years within the red-ball family, it's about giving him a lot more confidence, to keep backing him and just allowing him to do what he does best,” Bavuma said.

Labuschagne, while a risk, has at least batted in the top order and as Cummins explained, there wasn’t much difference in changing one position. Green, with an eye on returning to the Australian line-up after missing their home summer with a back injury, has batted at No 3 for Gloucestershire in the County Championship for the last few weeks and made three centuries and averages 66.71 in that spot.

Besides those two innings at No 3 last season, Mulder has batted at No 6 (once), 7 (15 times) and 8 (three times). An overall Test average of 22.65 doesn’t provide confidence, but last season he made his first Test century — batting at 7 — so there is that. 

It feels like one of those “gut feel” choices that Conrad has become famous for in the last two years. It worked with Ryan Rickelton at Newlands. The jury is still out on Tristan Stubbs at No 5, not least because he hasn’t batted there since Durban last year, while choosing Senuran Muthusamy over Keshav Maharaj in his first Test as coach against the West Indies at Centurion was, Conrad later admitted, a mistake.

In the biggest game of their lives, maybe some comfort can be drawn from Conrad remaining eccentric.

“A guy like Shukri coming in, it was kind of at the right time,” said Bavuma. “When he came in, it was encouraging guys to be themselves and to play their best cricket.”

Teams

South Africa: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (capt), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi. 

Australia: Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey, Beau Webster, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.