South Africa headed for test showpiece but crowds still disappoint

CAPE TOWN: South Africa’s two-test series success over Sri Lanka on Monday catapulted them to first place in the World Test Championship and put them firmly on course for next year’s final in what would have been unthinkable less than a year ago.

Five test wins in a row, made up of away victories over West Indies in Guyana in August, two in Bangladesh in October and two more over Sri Lanka, means South Africa top the table of test results over the last two-year cycle and are within touching distance of a place in the final at Lord’s from June 11-15.

They beat Sri Lanka by 109 runs at St George’s Park in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) on Monday, to add to their 233-run win in Durban a week earlier. If South Africa go on and win the two-test home series over Pakistan, which starts in Pretoria on Boxing Day, they will be assured of place in the final.

“We weren’t even thinking about this when we went to the West Indies in August,” said coach Shukri Conrad of limited expectations for the side after starting the 2023-25 WTC cycle with a 1-1 series draw against India and then effectively forfeiting a two-test series in New Zealand in February after failing to avoid a clash of dates with the SA20 league.

Cricket South Africa allowed their top test players to stay home and earn lucrative salaries in the domestic Twenty20 competition, instead sending an under-strength side where half the team had no previous test experience. They were roundly defeated by New Zealand.

But South Africa have worked their way into contention with five wins in their subsequent six test outings in what could be a boost for the longer format of the game in a country where it is under threat.

South Africa already play a lot less than other countries – 12 tests in the latest WTC cycle to 21 for England and 19 each for Australia and India – to the annoyance of the players. “In South Africa T20 cricket dominates but I think test cricket is something that is still highly treasured by a lot of the players,” captain Temba Bavuma told a press conference.