5 WTC 2023–25 Matches Fans Will Never Forget — Part 2
Another World Test Championship cycle now comes to an end, with South Africa and Australia playing the final clash at Lord's. With 69 matches in total played across 27 Test series over the past two years, which games were able to stay in the minds of cricket fans, which they will never be able to forget?
The current World Test Championship cycle (2023-25) now comes to an end, with 9 teams clashing for a spot in the finals. Although there were a few teams that stayed far away from the finals race, four of them stayed close even till January 2025. But as we all know, it takes just one game to change the standings in the WTC cycle, and that really took place.
We have seen various thrilling encounters in the current World Test Championship cycle, where the bowlers dominated or the batters bashed more than usual. Let’s take a look at some of the best games of the WTC 2023-25 cycle, which fans can never forget. Also, this is the second part of the series, and it is highly recommended to check the first part for the matches that have previously been included.
England Tour of India 2024; 3rd Test
With the series levelled at 1-1, England and India went against each other for the third Test at Rajkot. Winning the toss, India decided to bat first, taking the home ground advantage, but it didn’t come out well at the start. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Rajat Patidar lost their wickets early, putting the team in a challenging position. But with the centuries of Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, India posted 445 runs. Mark Wood played well for England, taking 4 wickets.
England surely didn’t give a good response to the Indian score, as the team got all out at just 319 runs. However, Ben Duckett played an important role in this innings, as he scored 153 runs, where no other player even breached the 50-run mark. Mohammed Siraj dominated with the ball for the Indian team, taking 4 wickets for 84 runs.
In the third innings, the Indian team batters unleashed their inner beasts, which was seen in the form of young talents. Yashasvi Jaiswal, the Indian opener, smashed 214 runs in just 236 balls, while Shubman Gill (91) and Sarfaraz Khan (68*) helped the team to reach a score of 430 before the skipper decided to declare.
England had a massive target of 557 to chase, but the team had no response to the Indian spin attack. As a result, they got all out at the score of 122, as India won the match by 434 runs. Ravindra Jadeja came as the star player in this match, with 112 runs and 7 wickets. His five-wicket haul in the 4th innings did play a crucial role in India’s win.
Sri Lanka Tour of England 2024; 3rd Test
Winning a Test match in England against England is surely a tough challenge, but the Sri Lankan team defied the odds in the third Test match of the series. With the match being played at the Oval, the Lankans decided to bowl first, and this decision helped England a lot. The team had a good start with the bat, as they posted 325 runs, which included a 154-run knock by Ollie Pope and a half-century by Ben Duckett.
The Sri Lankan team gave a good fight in the second innings, but they eventually got all out at the score of 263, giving England a lead of 62 runs. Pathum Nissanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Kamindu Mendis scored half-centuries, which played a crucial role for the team. On the other hand, Josh Hull and Olly Stone took 3 wickets each for England.
With a lead, the English team was expected to give a massive target, but they failed miserably against the tough bowling line-up of Sri Lanka. They got all out at the score of just 156, with Jamie Smith being the top scorer (67 runs off 50 balls). Lahiru Kumara became the star with the ball, as he took 4 wickets, while Vishwa Fernando took 3.
A target of 219 against the English bowling line-up could also be a tough one to chase, but the Sri Lankan batters had different plans. Pathum Nissanka smashed 127 runs off 124 deliveries, as the team was able to chase down the target with 8 wickets remaining. For his impressive performances with the bat, Nissanka also won the POTM award in this big win for Sri Lanka.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25; 1st Test
The first Test of the India tour of Australia, also the last Test match when the Indian team dominated in the WTC cycle. This match was being played at Perth, as India, led by Jasprit Bumrah, decided to bat first. But the first innings surely didn’t go well for the team, as they got all out at the score of 150. Josh Hazlewood once again toppled over the Indian batting line-up, ending with 4 wickets in the first innings.
But the Indian bowlers stage their best comeback in the second innings, putting up more trouble for the Australian batsmen. They surely had the home ground advantage, but had no answers to the Indian bowlers, due to which they got all out at the score of 104. Jasprit Bumrah, the captain of the team, finished with 5 wickets, while Harshit Rana took 3.
The third innings of this Test match is one that no Indian fan could ever forget. Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul gave the perfect start to the team, before the team lost quick wickets in the form of Rahul (77) and Devdutt Padikkal (25). But then came the King, Virat Kohli, who scored his 30th Test century in just 143 balls. Yashasvi Jaiswal (161) and Kohli (100) powered India to 487 before the team declared.
Australia tried giving a fight to this massive target of 534 posted by the Indian team, but once again, they failed. Travis Head ended up scoring 89 runs in 101 balls, as the team got all out at the score of 238, allowing India to win by 295 runs. Jasprit Bumrah won the POTM award, taking 8 wickets in the game, but this match was also the last time when Virat Kohli scored a century in Test format before his retirement.
New Zealand tour of Bangladesh 2023; 1st Test
For their World Test Championship campaign, New Zealand went against Bangladesh in a Test series, where they were the visiting team. The first Test match was being played in Sylhet, as Bangladesh decided to bat first after winning the toss. They had a good start in the first innings and finished with a score of 310, with Mahmudul Hasan Joy scoring 86 runs off 166 balls. Glenn Phillips took 4 wickets for the Kiwis, being the star performer with the ball.
In return, the New Zealand team scored 317 runs in the second innings of the match, ending with a lead of 7 runs. Kane Williamson scored a magnificent century, while no other batter was able to breach the 50-run mark. Taijul Islam dominated the Kiwis with his bowling skills, as he took 4 wickets and conceded 109 runs in 39 overs.
Coming out in the third innings, the Bangladeshi batters showcased their strength at the home ground, scoring 338 runs before getting all out. Their skipper, Najmul Hossain Shanto, scored a century, while Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehidy Hasan Miraz scored half-centuries. This time, Ajaz Patel bowled a magnificent spell, taking 4 wickets and conceding 148 runs.
The target of 332 runs seemed short to the New Zealand batsman, but things didn’t go as planned. They got all out at the score of 181, as Daryl Mitchell was the only player to reach a half-century in this innings. Taijul Islam once again dominated with the ball, taking 6 wickets in this innings, and also won the POTM award for taking 10 wickets in the match.
Pakistan Tour of South Africa 2025; 2nd Test
The match, which undoubtedly helped the South African team to fix its top spot in the WTC standings by the end of all matches, was the 2nd test against Pakistan. With the match being played at Cape Town, the home team won the toss and elected to bat first. This decision came out in their favour, as South Africa finished with 615 runs, as Ryan Rickelton scored 259, followed by centuries from Temba Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne.
Pakistan surely didn’t have any answers to this dominant bowling line-up of the Proteas, and they got all out at the score of 194. Babar Azam was the only player to reach the 50-run mark for the team, as Kagiso Rabada took 3 wickets for South Africa in the second innings. With Pakistan not even crossing half the runs scored by South Africa, the team had to take the follow-on.
Shan Masood and Babar Azam gave a magnificent start to Pakistan’s team in the third innings, as Masood ended up scoring 145 runs off 251 balls and Azam scored 81 runs off 124 balls. But after they got out, the team’s batting line-up trembled quickly. Pakistan got all out at the score of 478, with Rabada and Keshav Maharaj picking three wickets each.
South Africa now had the target of 58 runs to win the 2nd Test match, and the team did it within 7.1 overs. David Bedingham scored 44 runs off 30 balls, helping the team to finish the match quickly, as they won by 10 wickets. Also, Ryan Rickelton got the POTM award for scoring 259 runs in this match, and it also helped the Proteas to secure the top spot in the WTC standings.
These are the top picks for the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle, which shaped the final for the ultimate clash between South Africa and Australia. Which one of these matches was your favourite in the WTC cycle?
Comments