Australia captain Pat Cummins has called the ongoing WTC Final against South Africa a strong endorsement for Test cricket, even though the match appears headed for a result inside three days. A total of 28 wickets have already fallen in just two days at Lord’s, with both teams struggling to bat on a challenging pitch.
Cummins starred on Day 2 with a sensational spell of 6/28, helping Australia bowl out South Africa for 138 and claim a 74-run first innings lead. Australia ended the day at 144/8 in their second innings, with a crucial 61-run eighth-wicket stand between Alex Carey (43) and Mitchell Starc (16)* boosting their advantage to 218 runs.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏’𝒕. 𝑩𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅,” 𝑪𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕-𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.
Cummins Reaches 300 Test Wickets
Cummins’ six-wicket haul also saw him become the eighth Australian to reach 300 Test wickets, achieving the milestone in just his 68th Test match.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕, 𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒍. 𝑰𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚,” 𝑪𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
The 32-year-old credited both the pitch and the high-quality bowling for the fast-moving match. He emphasized that Australia must still bowl well on Day 3 to finish the job.
Meanwhile, David Bedingham, South Africa’s top scorer with 45, acknowledged the tough conditions but remained optimistic.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏,” 𝑩𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒉𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
With both teams still in with a chance, fans can expect a thrilling finish to the World Test Championship Final.
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