The 2025 ICC World Test Championship final was a

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

match played at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

, London from 11 to 14 June to determine the winner of the

2023–2025 ICC World Test Championship The 2023–2025 ICC World Test Championship was the third edition of the ICC World Test Championship. It started in June 2023 with the Ashes, which was contested between England and Australia, and finished in June 2025 with the final played betw ...

. It was played between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. South Africa won the match by 5 wickets to win the third edition of the

ICC World Test Championship The ICC World Test Championship, often shortened to WTC, is a biennial cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council. It is played over two years and is the premier championship for Test cricket. The winners of the tourn ...

. This marked South Africa's maiden win of the Championship. As winners, they received a cash prize of US$3.6 million, while the Australian team received a cash prize of US$2.1 million. This was also South Africa's second ICC victory after

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Background

Lords-Cricket-Ground-Pavilion-06-08-2017

The points system remained unchanged from the previous edition. A team that was behind the required

over rate An over rate is the average number of Over (cricket), overs bowled per hour by the Bowling (cricket), bowling team in cricket. When calculated by Test match officials, allowances are made for Dismissal (cricket), wickets taken (2 mins per wicket) ...

at the end of a match would have one point deducted for each over it was behind. As in the previous edition, the teams are ranked in the league table based on percentage of total points won out of total points contested. During the

, both

and

emerged as the leading teams in terms of points. Going into the final Australia held the top position in the

ICC Men's Test Team Rankings The ICC Men's Test Team Rankings (formerly known as the ICC Test Championship) is an international rankings system of the International Cricket Council for the 12 teams that play Test cricket. The rankings are based on international matches th ...

while South Africa secured the second spot. South Africa made their first-ever appearance in the WTC final, whereas Australia were the defending champions having won the previous edition against India in the 2023 final. In May 2025, the ICC revealed the prize money for the final. The champions received USD $3.6 million while the runners-up received USD $2.16 million.

Road to the final

Series results

Source:

Final standings

* A win is worth 12 points. A draw is worth 4 points. A tie is worth 6 points. * Points deductions:

Squads

Australia also named Brendan Doggett as a travelling reserve.

Match

Match officials

On 23 May 2025, the ICC announced the match officials for the final. * On-field

umpires An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

: Chris Gaffaney (NZ) and Richard Illingworth (Eng) *

Third umpire The third umpire (or TV Umpire) is an off- field umpire used in some cricket matches, particularly international matches. Their role is to make the final decision in questions referred to them by the two on-field umpires or the players. The ...

Richard Kettleborough Richard Allan Kettleborough (born 15 March 1973) is an English international cricket umpire, and former first-class cricketer who appeared in 33 first-class matches for Yorkshire and Middlesex. He was a left-handed top order batsman and occasi ...

(Eng) * Reserve umpire: Nitin Menon (Ind) *

Match referee A match referee is an official appointed to oversee professional cricket matches. Match referees for Test matches and One Day Internationals are appointed by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Most matches below international level do not ...

Javagal Srinath Javagal Srinath (, born 31 August 1969) is a former Indian cricketer and currently an ICC match referee. He is considered among India's finest fast bowlers and is the only Indian fast bowler till date to have taken more than 300 wickets in O ...

(Ind)

Match summary

Day 1

In the first session, Australia had scored 67 runs for the loss of 4

wicket In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three Stump (cricket), stumps and two Bail (cricket), bails at each end of the Cricket pitch, pitch. The Fielding (cricket), fielding team's playe ...

s. At the end of second session, Australia managed to score 113 more runs for the loss of just 1 wicket with contributions from Steve Smith and Beau Webster. In the third session, Australia lost all their remaining wickets for only 22 runs. Webster was the highest run scorrer with 72 off 92 balls while

Kagiso Rabada Kagiso Rabada (born 25 May 1995) is a South African international cricketer who plays all formats of the game. He is a right arm fast bowler. He made his international debut in November 2014 in limited-overs cricket before going on to make his ...

picked up a

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Takin ...

. At the end of day 1, South Africa had scored 43 runs for the loss of 4 wickets.

Day 2

In the first session of day 2, South Africa scored 78 runs while losing only one wicket with contributions from David Bedingham and

Temba Bavuma Temba Bavuma (born 17 May 1990) is a South African international cricketer who is the current captain of the South African cricket team in Tests and ODI cricket, and formerly captained in T20I. He is a right-handed middle-order batter. He w ...

. After a rain-delay, South Africa finished their innings with 17 more runs while losing all the remaining wickets. Bedingham was the highest run scorrer, while

Pat Cummins Patrick James Cummins (born 8 May 1993) is an Australian international cricketer who captains the Australia men's national cricket team in Test and One Day International cricket. Cummins is widely regarded as one of the finest fast bowlers t ...

took a six-wicket haul. At the end of second session, Australia had scored 32 runs for the loss of 2 wickets. In third session, Australia scored 112 runs while losing six wickets with contributions from Alex Carey and

Mitchell Starc Mitchell Aaron Starc (born 30 January 1990) is an Australian international cricketer who plays for the Australian national team and New South Wales in domestic cricket. A left-arm fast bowler and a lower order left-handed batsman, he is Austr ...

Day 3

In the first session of day 3, Australia finished their innings adding 63 runs while losing all their remaining wickets. Starc was the highest run scorer, while Rabada picked up a four-wicket haul. In the second session, South Africa scored 94 runs for the loss of 2 wickets. In the third session, South Africa scored 119 runs without losing any wickets with contributions from

Aiden Markram Aiden Kyle Markram (born 4 October 1994) is a South African cricketer who is the current captain of the South Africa national cricket team in Twenty20 International cricket. Markram had captained the South African under-19 cricket team to win th ...

and Bavuma.

Day 4

In the first session of day 4, South Africa scored 69 runs for the loss of 3 wickets to secure victory by 5 wickets.

Match details

; Australia 1st innings Fall of wickets: : 1–12 (Khawaja, 6.3 ov), 2–16 (Green, 6.6 ov), 3–46 (Labuschagne, 17.6 ov), 4–67 (Head, 23.2 ov), 5-146 (Smith, 41.6 ov), 6-192 (Carey, 51.1 ov), 7-199 (Cummins, 52.4 ov), 8-210 (Webster, 54.4 ov), 9-211 (Lyon, 55.5 ov), 10-212 (Starc, 56.4 ov). ;South Africa 1st innings Fall of wickets: 1–0 (Markram, 0.6 ov), 2–19 (Rickelton, 8.4 ov), 3–25 (Mulder, 15.2 ov), 4–30 (Stubbs, 20.2 ov), 5–94 (Bavuma, 39.2 ov), 6–126 (Verreynne, 51.3 ov), 7–126 (Jansen, 51.6 ov), 8–135 (Bedingham, 55.2 ov), 9–138 (Maharaj, 56.5 ov), 10–138 (Rabada, 57.1 ov) ;Australia 2nd innings Fall of wickets: 1–28 (Khawaja, 10.2 ov), 2–28 (Green, 10.4 ov), 3–44 (Labuschagne, 17.5 ov), 4–48 (Smith, 18.5 ov), 5–64 (Webster, 22.6 ov), 6–66 (Head, 23.4 ov), 7–73 (Cummins, 24.5 ov), 8–134 (Carey, 38.2 ov), 9–148 (Lyon, 42.4 ov), 10–207 (Hazlewood, 64.6 ov) ;South Africa 2nd innings Fall of wickets: 1–9 (Rickelton, 2.1 ov), 2–70 (Mulder, 17.4 ov), 3–217 (Bavuma, 58.6 ov), 4–241 (Stubbs, 70.3 ov), 5–276 (Markram, 80.6 ov)

Broadcasting

The ICC named the following panel of commentators for the final: * Ian Bishop *

Stuart Broad Stuart Christopher John Broad (born 24 June 1986) is an English former cricketer who played Test cricket for the England cricket team and was One Day and Twenty20 International captain. Broad was a member of the England team that won the 2010 ...

Matthew Hayden Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman who, along with opening partners Ju ...

Nasser Hussain Nasser Hussain (born 28 March 1968) is an English cricket commentator and former player who captained the England cricket team between 1999 and 2003, with his overall international career extending from 1990 to 2004. A pugnacious right-hande ...

* Mel Jones *

Dinesh Karthik Krishnakumar Dinesh Karthik (born 1 June 1985) is a former Indian professional cricketer, coach, and Sports commentator, commentator. Karthik played for the India national cricket team and also captained Tamil Nadu cricket team, Tamil Nadu in ...

Kevin Pietersen Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980) is a former England international cricketer. He is regarded as one of the greatest England batsmen to have played the game, and renowned for his competitive, and often controversial nature. He was a ri ...

Shaun Pollock Shaun Maclean Pollock (born 16 July 1973) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer, who was captain in all formats of the game. A bowling all-rounder, Pollock along with Allan Donald formed a bowling partnership for many year ...

Graeme Smith Graeme Craig Smith (born 1 February 1981) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for South Africa national cricket team, South Africa in all formats. In 2003, he was appointed Captain (cricket), captain of the So ...

* Ravi Shastri *

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 191920 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. He w ...

References

{{World championships in 2025 * ICC ICC Australia in international cricket South Africa in international cricket ICC ICC

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...