WTC Final: Starc’s gritty fifty helps Australia set 282-run target for SA

Pacer Mitchell Starc’s gritty half-century gave Australia’s innings the much-needed impetus on Day 3 of the ICC World Test Championship Final at Lord’s, setting South Africa a challenging target of 282 runs for victory.

In response, South Africa adopted a noticeably aggressive approach in their chase, a stark contrast to their more cautious batting in the first innings. However, they suffered an early blow with the dismissal of opener Ryan Rickelton for 6. At the time of filing this report, the Proteas had moved to 32/1 after six overs.

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Starc, who was dropped on 14 in the final over of day two’s play, was at his resolute best on Friday. Under sunny skies and batting friendly conditions, the left-arm quick remained unbeaten on 58 besides stitching a vital 59-run stand for the 10th wicket with Josh Hazlewood (17) as Australia were bowled out for 207 just before lunch on Friday.

Earlier, Starc got to his 11th Test fifty in the 64th over by flashing at one outside off-stump from Marco Jansen and went over the slip cordon to get a streaky boundary, which also brought up Australia’s 200 as well.

Although Kagiso Rabada struck early by dismissing Nathan Lyon for 2, his ninth wicket of the match, the Proteas’ pace attack otherwise struggled to make an impact during the morning session. The ease with which the Aussie pace duo of Starc and Hazlewood negotiated the bowling may give the South African batters confidence heading into the steep chase.

South Africa now face the highest fourth-innings target of the match to secure the WTC title, while Australia, armed with a seasoned bowling unit, will back themselves to dismiss the Proteas again and become the first team to win consecutive World Test Championship titles since the competition began in 2019.

The final marks the conclusion of a captivating WTC cycle, during which South Africa surged into the decider with seven consecutive Test wins, and Australia maintained their grip at the top with consistent performances, aiming now to cement their supremacy with another title.

Earlier on day 2, South Africa after conceding a 74-run first innings lead, bounced back in style to reduce Australia to 144/8 at stumps on Thursday.

Brief scores: Australia 212 and 207 in 65 overs (Mitchell Starc 58, Alex Carey 43; Kagiso Rabada 4-59, Lungi Ngidi 3-38) vs South Africa 138 and 32/1 in 6 overs (Aiden Markram 16 not out, Wiaan Mulder 11 not out; Mitchell Starc 1/20)