Watch Travis Head Bowled By Wiaan Mulder: The ICC WTC Final 2025 continued to ebb and flow, and the ‘Ultimate Test’ is likely heading towards a three-day finish as Australia suffered a middle-order collapse in their second innings, after South Africa, too, had slid against Pat Cummins’ threat on day 2.
The match had started with South Africa bossing the first session on day 1 after Temba Bavuma elected to bowl first. Australia fought back through fifties from Steve Smith and Beau Webster before Alex Carey’s ill-fated reverse-sweep triggered a collapse of five wickets for only 20 runs.
South Africa lost their first four wickets for only 30 runs as Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood put on a masterclass of incisive and disciplined pace bowling.
Bavuma counterattacked on the morning of day 2, and Jude Bedingham inched near an excellent fifty. However, Australian skipper Pat Cummins downed the rest of the Proteas’ batting attack in one spell, picking up five of the six South African wickets to fall on day 2.
Australia took a healthy 74-run lead. They started off well with a 28-run opening stand, but then some excellent bowling from the South Africans dragged the game back in balance of sorts. Australia went from 28/0 to 73/7. This included the big wicket of Travis Head.
Head, who was the Man of the Match in the 2023 ICC WTC Final against India, was dismissed for 11 runs in Australia’s first innings in the 2025 ICC WTC Final against South Africa. He couldn’t make a score of note in the second innings either, as Wiaan Mulder knocked him over for only 9 runs.
Mulder went around the wicket of Travis Head and sent in a delivery that pitched well outside the off-stump. The left-hander attempted to tap it safely, but the ball had jagged back into him so much that Head completely missed the ball as it snuck through the gap between his bat and pad. Head had his head down in frustration, while the South Africans celebrated merrily.
Video: Travis Head Bowled By Wiaan Mulder In ICC WTC Final
At the time of writing, Australia are 105/7, leading by 179 runs.
Teams:
South Africa (Playing XI): Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (w), Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (w), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
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