South Africa’s glorious revival is a fitting end to a year that gave Test cricket new life
South Africa’s glorious revival is a fitting end to a year that gave Test cricket new life
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An unpredictable, brilliant year in the sport ended with Temba Bavuma’s side making the World Test Championship final with a nail-biting win over Pakistan. It was never going to be straightforward. South Africa’s cricketers in a pressure game? Perhaps only amphetamines are as reliable in spiking the heart rate. After a truly heroic collapse on a wearing Centurion pitch beginning to misbehave like an unruly toddler, number 10 Kagiso Rabada strode to the crease with 49 still required and hopes of smooth progress into the World Test Championship final fading.
![[Kagiso Rabada steered South Africa to victory with some outstanding stroke-making]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/30/14/newFile-5.jpg)
A resurgent year for the Proteas meant that a win in either Test of a two-match affair against Pakistan would be enough to book their spot at Lord’s in June; enjoying the comforts of home and a visiting side in the grips of their latest off-field chaos, any other nation might have been counting their chickens. But, alas, this is South Africa, cricket’s chokers, still waiting 30 years on from readmission for their eggs to hatch.
![[South Africa were accused of disrespecting Test cricket after sending a weakened team to New Zealand]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/30/14/newFile-6.jpg)
So as Rabada joined Marco Jansen, familiar fears of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory spread. 96-4 had become 99-8, an implosion that included captain Temba Bavuma walking for a caught behind that he, it quickly transpired, hadn’t hit. The relentless Mohammad Abbas, whirring in unchanged all day from one end of the ground, was poking and probing with a surgeon’s scalpel, proving his three years out of the Pakistan Test set-up a folly.
![[Temba Bavuma has been a steadying force with the bat and as a leader]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/30/14/newFile-7.jpg)
With his batting partner taking them to within striking distance, it was left to the beanpole limbs of Jansen to strike the final blow, a crisp back cut for four taking South Africa home and into the WTC showpiece. “With a lot of pressure on, it’s the one innings that I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Rabada said of a dreamy 26-ball unbeaten 31.
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