Aussies ready to chase the mace after conquering India
London will brace itself to see Australia crowned as world champions once again on English soil, with Pat Cummins declaring he canât wait to defend the World Test Championship mace in the final against South Africa in June.
Cumminsâ teamâs six-wicket victory over India in Sydney sealed their place at Lordâs for what the ICC hails as the âUltimate Testâ against a young Proteas outfit.
Australia will doubtless start as overwhelming favourites to defend the striking ICC trophy they also lifted in the English capital across town at The Oval in 2023.
âTo hold the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is an amazing feeling, and the extra layer is now securing a spot again in the World Test Championship final, which was always a huge goal for us in this cycle,â Cummins said.
âWe talk about the World Test Championship a lot. Itâs a trophy weâre really proud to hold so we want to go back and defend it.
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âI think itâs a great tournament in that youâve got to play well consistently and across all different conditions against different teams. We canât wait to get over there.â
In what will be just the third final of the championship, Australia, who hammered India by 209 runs in 2023, have the chance to become the first team to win the mace twice following New Zealandâs eight-wicket victory over India in the inaugural final in 2021.
The Sydney win ensured Australia consolidated second position in the WTC standings with 63.73 percentage points to move them beyond reach of India (50.00 per cent) and Sri Lanka (45.45), who had both still harboured hopes of a place in the showpiece event by finishing in the top two.
Instead, it was South Africaâs win over Pakistan in the first Test in Centurion last week that booked the Proteasâ place, with critics of the WTC format saying theyâd played the fewest matches of any team and hadnât tackled either Australia or England in qualifying.
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Former England captain Michael Vaughan even suggested South Africa reached the final âon the back of beating pretty much nobodyâ, a claim their coach Shukri Conrad dismissed indignantly.
âIâm never going to apologise for getting into the final,â Conrad had said before the second Test against Pakistan that the Proteas are currently dominating in Cape Town.
âItâs the biggest thing in this teamâs existence. Itâs the biggest thing for South African cricket at the moment. Itâs the biggest thing for Test cricket, for world cricket, where the right noises are going to start being made.â
In must-win matches, after injuries had beset them, South Africa beat the West Indies 1-0, Bangladesh 2-0 and Sri Lanka 2-0. Theyâre now leading Pakistan 1-0 and havenât lost since New Zealand beat them in Hamilton last February.
They last played Australia in the summer of 2022-23 when they were outplayed in two Tests and saved by the rain in the third.
But Conrad has warned theyâll be no pushovers this time.
âOne of the ânobodiesâ we beat won a Test match in Australia â West Indies beat Australia in a Test match. They are not nobody,â he noted.
âNew Zealand beat India three-zip in India. New Zealand is not a nobody. Sri Lanka won Test matches against England and New Zealand. I donât buy this thing about us beating nobody.â
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