South Africa’s captain, Temba Bavuma, won the toss and decided to bat first, inviting Australia to bowl. The Proteas’ pace attack, spearheaded by Kagiso Rabada, was in focus. Rabada’s ability was evident when he dismissed Usman Khawaja. The performance of Rabada was particularly noteworthy when compared with the world’s number one bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who has not taken a wicket in the WTC finals. Rabada also managed to take the wicket of Cameron Green. With Khawaja’s wicket, Rabada also accomplished the milestone of taking 50 test wickets against Australia. Rabada has 327 wickets in 70 test appearances with his best performance being 7/112 against England. He is amongst the top five bowlers with the most wickets for South Africa in Test cricket.
South Africa (Playing XI): Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma(c), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne(w), Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood