Australian spinner Nathan Lyon is excited at the prospect of bowling to some of South Africa’s finest batters in the ICC World Test Championship final 2025. He looks forward to challenging Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton along with David Bedingham, whom he faced last year from county cricket. The test match shall commence on June 11, and Australia hopes to become the first team to successfully defend the ICC WTC mace.
With 553 wickets to his name, Lyon is expected to shine at Lord’s, though he stressed that the South African batting lineup should never be taken lightly, given the moments of brilliance they have had since the 2023-25 WTC cycle. Lyon stated that the fact of Australia having gained experience in the last WTC final held in the UK will be an advantage, but that anything can happen in one WTC final.
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He stated that the fact that South Africa has players who have multiple World Cup-winning experiences behind them cannot make them win the game of its own; South Africa has some really good batters and really good bowlers so it’s going to be a tough challenge, with the conditions abroad and the Dukes ball being another one.
Lyon said: “To the legions of the best bowling attacks present on either side, it is going to be exciting for the batters. Rickelton is one to watch; he scored 259 against Pakistan not so long ago and was very good in the IPL with 388 runs.” Skipper Temba Bavuma and Bedingham were also hardly put under pressure and racked up big runs for South Africa during the WTC cycle.
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Having faced legends like AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis earlier in his career, Lyon knows South African talent well. “I’ve watched a lot of cricket, including their current game against Zimbabwe. They have some great players,” he said. “Markram and Rickelton are top players, and I played against Bedingham last year; he’s a special talent. It’ll come down to who can stick to the basics and handle the pressure.”
Despite not having played competitive cricket since February in the Test series against Sri Lanka, Lyon retains an excellent level of fitness and confidence. “I had taken a little break to get my hip right, and now I’m all set,” he said. “I’ve been training hard since Sri Lanka, and bowling-wise, I’ve been good for the past five to six weeks. My skills and how the ball is coming out are exactly where I want them to be.”
