113 Years Ago! The Last Time Australia And South Africa Played A Test Match At Lord's

AUS Vs SA first Test at Lord's [Source: @CricCrazyJohns/x.com]

The T20 cricket fever is over and now the caravan shifts towards Test cricket and the World Test Championship (WTC) final. After two gruelling years of Test cricket, Australia and South Africa have eliminated everyone to reach the finale and will play the one-off game at the mecca of Cricket, Lord's.

In Test cricket we often talk about the rivalries between India and Australia or Australia and England, however, the Australia-South Africa rivalry is underrated and hardly anyone knows that this is not the first time the two heavyweights will play a Test match at Lord's.

What happened when AUS-SA played at Lord's?

The two sides have played 101 Tests against each other and the last time they played a Test at Lord's was in the year 1912. During the early years of Cricket, there was a concept called Triangular Tournament which took place between England, Australia and South Africa.

Teams played against each other thrice and Australia and the Proteas side collided in the league stage game at the Mecca of Cricket. The Rainbow nation got bundled out for a paltry 263 and in reply, the Kangaroos posted 390 runs.

In the second innings, South Africa could only score 173 as the Aussies won the game by 10-wickets.

Road to the finale for Australia and South Africa

The two teams were the best sides in the WTC cycle, 2023-2025. The Proteas played 12 matches in two years and won 8 games, thus finishing at the top of the table with a win percentage of 69.44. On the other hand, the Aussies had a hardship reaching the finale but they eventually finished second, defeating India in a two-way race for the second finish.

The Pat Cummins led side finished with a win percentage of 67.54 as they reached their second-ever WTC finale.

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