Follow UsBeau Webster was the pick of the Australian batters as he smashed 72, the highest score on Day 1 of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final 2025. The Australians, however, could have been out on only eight, but South Africa, especially the bowler, Kagiso Rabada, failed to appeal or force his skipper, Temba Bavuma, to go for appeal.
As a result, not only did Webster survive, but went on to make it count, scoring 64 off the remaining 118 runs that the Aussies scored in their first-innings total of 212.
Steve Smith, who was Webster’s partner at the other end while all this was happening, said that he was surprised that the Proteas team did not appeal a lot to the decision and thought that he had hit it.
“I heard it was out, is that right? Yeah – It looked pretty good to me from the other end. I don’t know what actually happened there. I know Beau was in a little bit of pain. I don’t think it actually hit his pad, I think it just hit his leg,” Smith was quoted as saying in the end of the day press conference by Indian Express.
“Someone said they saw Rabada say he might have hit it. Certainly, it didn't look like that from my view, but yeah, I was surprised they didn’t appeal more. I don’t think many people really went up, to be honest. Where I was, I was like, geez, that looks pretty good. But they had a chance to use a referral and didn’t,” added the Aussie great.
Smith too was in great touch, scoring 66, before he was dismissed in an unlikely fashion by Aiden Markram. He did rue missing out on an opportunity to score more, but said that the Australian team was in a better position than their opposition, who were struggling at 43/4, trailing by 169 runs at the end of the day’s play.
“I think we are in a good spot. We had a few missed opportunities with the bat to try and get a bigger total. The wicket offered something all day, but we are in a pretty good position, 169 in front, and they’re four wickets down. Hopefully it does a bit in the morning like it did today,” he said.