WTC 2025 Final: Have South Africa Never Won An ICC Trophy In Their History? Dissecting The Biggest Myth Of International Cricket

WTC 2025 Final: The World Test Championship final between South Africa and Australia is currently on a cliffhanger. Pat Cummins' Australia and Temba Bavuma's Proteas have fought long and hard without giving each other an inch to clinch the coveted Test mace at Lord's. Australia were considered to be the favourites to win the WTC mace and retain their crown, but South Africa turned things around quickly and now they are marginally ahead in the race.

Have South Africa Even Won An ICC Trophy? Here's What You Need To Know

South Africa have always been termed as chokers, and only they are to be blamed for it. For many years, the Proteas have qualified for the knockout games, and they continued to bottle them across numerous ICC events. The South Africans also locked horns with India in the World T20 final in 2024 and lost it from a winnable situation. But there is a lot of chatter around South Africa scripting history and ending their title drought.

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There is a popular theory that the Proteas have never won an ICC title, and this is completely untrue. The South Africans are the winners of the inaugural edition of the ICC Knockout Cup (now known as the Champions Trophy). The inaugural edition of the ICC Knockout Cup was played between South Africa and the West Indies in 1998. The Proteas won the match by 4 wickets and 18 balls remaining. If South Africa win the WTC final, it will be their second ICC Trophy after 27 years.

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South Africa On The Brink Of History

South African skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and decided to bowl first in the 'Ultimate Test'. Their bowlers did reap sweet results and bundled the Aussies out for 212 runs, but their batting completely backfired, and they could manage to score only 138 runs. The Aussies later set a target of 282 runs for the Proteas to achieve, and they are just 69 runs away from the target.