The ICC World Test Championship final is being played at Lord’s, England, with Australia facing off against South Africa. Day one proved difficult for the batsmen of both teams, with the bowlers dominating the proceedings.
Mitchell Starc delivered an outstanding performance, not only challenging the batsmen but also controlling the run rate. Furthermore, Starc achieved a historic feat by surpassing Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami’s record, claiming 2 wickets on the first day.
Starc’s spell saw him take 2 critical wickets while conceding just 10 runs in 7 overs. He dismissed Aiden Markram in the initial overs, and shortly after, with the fall of Ryan Rickelton, Starc broke Mohammed Shami’s record. Starc now leads in the number of wickets taken in ICC tournament finals, with 11 wickets in 6 innings. Before this, Mohammed Shami held the record with 10 wickets.
Australia’s first innings ended with a score of 212 runs. Steve Smith made 66 runs, Marnus Labuschagne scored 72, and Alex Carey contributed 23. For South Africa, Kagiso Rabada took 5 wickets, and Marco Jansen claimed 3.
South Africa had a shaky start in their first innings, ending the day at 43 runs for 4 wickets. Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Dean Elgar, and Tristan Stubbs were the batsmen dismissed. Temba Bavuma (3 runs) and David Bedingham (8 runs) were at the crease at the close of play.