Follow UsWe’re just 48 hours away from the biggest match in South African cricket history as the Proteas brace themselves to take on Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final at Lord’s. This time last year, pretty much everyone had written off South Africa from the WTC Final race, but the Temba Bavuma-led side staged one of the most remarkable comebacks to book a place in the finale, which will happen at the Home of Cricket from June 11 (Wednesday).
South Africa are, of course, vying for their first major title this century, and key to that will be good decision-making. Historically, South Africa have been infamous for making dubious selection calls in crunch games, with the most known blunder being the call to drop Kyle Abbott and play Vernon Philander in the semi-final of the 2015 ODI World Cup.
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The Proteas’ top seven is pretty much set, but they have one huge selection headache right at the very bottom: picking the fourth pacer. Now, Kagiso Rabada, Wiaan Mulder and Marco Jansen are all locks, and so is Keshav Maharaj. However, Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch and Dane Paterson will be battling it out for the final spot.
Ngidi is, by some distance, the most experienced of the lot, but his fitness is a major concern. He has also played just two Tests since the start of 2023.
Hence it might come down to Dane Paterson and Corbin Bosch, and the former might end up getting the nod due to two factors: his recent form in Tests and the fact that he spent time playing for Middlesex at Lord’s in the County Championship this year. Bosch will unquestionably add more depth to the batting front but it might be hard for the Proteas to look past Paterson, who took 13 wickets across the last two Tests he played, including two fifers.
Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (capt), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Dane Paterson
Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch, Senuran Muthusamy, Tony de Zorzi