Five key questions for South Africa before the WTC25 Final

The table-toppers of the World Test Championship 2023-2025 cycle, South Africa, named their 15-man squad to take on Australia at Lord’s on Tuesday, May 13.

South Africa Squad: Temba Bavuma (captain), Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch, Kyle Verreynne, David Bedingham, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson.

With the return of a key pacer in the squad, they remain stacked in the pace department, much like their opposition. However, their main concern seems to be a lack of experience in the biggest of stages and what formula will fit the Proteas XI.

With the conditions at Lord’s historically favouring the quicks, it will be an intriguing wait as they decide their Playing XI for the marquee ICC Test event’s final showdown, beginning on 11 June.

1. Who opens the batting for South Africa in the WTC25 Final?

Tony De Zorzi and Aiden Markram have been staples as openers for South Africa since their Test series against Sri Lanka late last year. This trend continued into the series against Pakistan until the first Test, which South Africa won by two wickets in Centurion.

However, in their second Test, Ryan Rickelton was given an opportunity and he took it with both hands, smashing 259 off 343 deliveries as South Africa won by 10 wickets and Rickelton was given the Player of the Match award for his efforts.

Markram has been a mainstay in the Proteas side as an opener in the longest format, scoring over 2500 runs in the position.

Meanwhile, Temba Bavuma has been opening in the ODI format, but has found himself in the middle order for the Test side, scoring 987 runs as the No.4, 1059 at five and 1312 runs at six respectively.

If South Africa are to maintain a left-right combination, it would be about choosing a partner for Markram. Ryan Rickelton was their choice in the recent Champions Trophy 2025, but it is yet to be seen what they do in the red-ball setup.

2. Who will step up in the middle order along with Temba Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne?

Temba Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne have been the star performers of the South African middle-order in their recent series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Both the batters scored tons in both series, with Verreynne scoring 105* in the second Test against Sri Lanka and 100 in the second Test against Pakistan in Cape Town.

Meanwhile, Bavuma scored 113 in the first Test against Sri Lanka and 106 against Pakistan in the Cape Town Test.

Their consistent performances have ensured South Africa push forward on the foundation built by the openers.

While Bavuma and Verreynne have been positive with their performances, South Africa will be looking for added stability in the middle order, with Tristan Stubbs and David Bedingham emerging as contenders.

Stubbs has long been viewed as one of South Africa’s brightest prospects, but with only nine Tests under his belt, the right-hand batter will face a steep learning curve in the final against an experienced Australian attack.

David Bedingham finds himself in a similar position, having played only 12 Tests, and will need to draw on all his domestic experience of more than 100 first-class matches to step up on the big stage.

It will prove vital for both of these batters to make their mark at the Ultimate Test to ensure South Africa can get their hands on the elusive ICC silverware.

3. Corbin Bosch or Wiann Mulder – who do the Proteas pick?

Both all-rounders have had varying degrees of success in white-ball cricket in the recent Indian Premier League and SA20.

However, in red-ball cricket, it is Mulder who comes out on top in terms of experience. The 27-year-old has 18 Tests to his name, scoring 589 runs at an average of 22.65 along with 30 wickets in his career so far.

Bosch however, has only played a solitary Test match against Pakistan, where he shone with 81* in the first Test along with figures of 4/63 in the first innings.

Either of these all-rounders would be a good support act to Marco Jansen at the lower-middle order. It remains to be seen who gets the nod to feature in the all-important WTC final.

4. Will Anrich Nortje be a big miss?

South Africa have a strong pace attack consisting of Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, and number two ranked Test bowler, Kagiso Rabada, all-rounders Wiaan Mulder and Corbin Bosch along with Dane Paterson.

However, other than Rabada, they will miss the experience of bowlers who have bowled in English conditions, which Anrich Nortje brought to the table with 70 wickets overall in Tests and 10 of them coming in England.

However, Marco Jansen has had a degree of success with nine wickets in his two Tests in England, but fellow pacer Lungi Ngidi has not had anything to write home about in English conditions, with only two wickets in his two Test matches there.

5. Can Keshav Maharaj add another dimension to South Africa’s pace-heavy bowling?

Keshav Maharaj has been one of the mainstays in the South African Test setup with consistent performances. He is the leading wicket-taker for South Africa in the format in the last 12 months, with 40 wickets in 13 innings.

He is only two scalps shy of 200 wickets in the format as well, showing his pedigree in the longest format of the game. The slow-left armer could be an ace in the hole for the Proteas.

He even has a decent record in England with 21 wickets in seven Tests played there. However, in their most recent win at Lord’s in 2022, which Maharaj was a part of, he did not bowl in the first innings and was only given 12 overs in the second innings. He proved his worth by picking up two wickets as South Africa won by an innings and 12 runs.

South Africa could however go the other way and pick an all-pace attack of Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and a supplement of Dane Paterson or either or both all-rounders, Wiaan Mulder and Corbin Bosch to combat the conditions while relying on the part-time spin of Markram.