South Africa, led by Temba Bavuma, broke their 27-year jinx of not winning an ICC Trophy. The Proteas defeated Australia by five wickets to win the WTC Final, and the victory will go down in history as the one who finally broke that dreaded ICC curse. The Proteas also did in in style, winning eight Tests in a row to win the title.
After the win, the spotlight was on Bavuma, who also shrugged off a hamstring injury during the second innings and stitched together a match-winning partnership.
Bavuma was also joined by his son on the field during the victory celebrations. Then, Bavuma also gave the Test mace to his son in a heartwarming gesture, and the pair also celebrated together.
Speaking after the match, Bavuma said, “It has been a special couple of days, at some point, felt like we were back in South Africa with all the support in the stands. We have prepared hard for this, we have worked hard for this moment. We came here with a lot of belief but also with a lot of doubters and we are happy that we were able to play well enough to get that type of result. Special moment for us as a team, special moment for the people back home, probably will really sink in a couple of days but it’s been special. The energy was there, we have been wanting this as a team, we have been kind of knocking at the door, being relentless, getting ourselves into positions where we can be in finals.”
“We have gone through the heartache, we have gone through the disappointment, seen it with the past players who have come before us and the sun is on us at the moment. That responsibility we have been carrying it and hopefully this is one of many. KG is a massive player, couple of days ago, I went to the ICC Hall of Fame in Leeds, I think in a couple of years KG will be one of those guys. He came into the game with controversy behind him. He was motivated to do what he needed to do and like a champion he came and did what he did. (Markram) Unbelievable, couple of people were asking why Aiden was in the team. Stats, yes are important but character is something we look at and a guy like Aiden, he carries all those traits. We knew second innings, we are gonna have to come out and play and he led it in like true Aiden fashion. Another massive player for us.
“Character has been a big thing for us as a team and those two guys are the ones who carry that. Us a team we got ourselves into the final, there were doubters as to the route that we took, supposedly playing weaker teams. We are happy we are able to perfom like this and hopefully that kind of squashes that. For us as a country, here’s an opportunity for us, as divided as we are at times to forget all of that, to rejoice in this moment and just be one. I’m sure the people back home will be celebrating it with us and you can trust that we will be celebrating it massively as well,” he added.
