Proteas beat Sri Lanka to strengthen WTC Final bid

South Africa's Test series win over Sri Lanka has lifted them above Australia into first place in the World Test Championship.

The Proteas now find themselves in a strong position to qualify for the final of the competition, which was unthinkable less than a year ago.

Five Test wins in a row, made up of away victories over West Indies in Guyana in August, two in Bangladesh in October and two more over Sri Lanka, means South Africa top the table of Test results over the last two-year cycle.

They beat Sri Lanka by 109 runs at St George's Park in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) on Monday, to add to their 233-run win in Durban a week earlier.

If South Africa go on and win the two-Test home series over Pakistan, which starts in Pretoria on Boxing Day, they will be assured of a place in the final.

Australia's win over India in Adelaide has kept them in the hunt to almost make the decider, but need to continue winning to stay above India and Sri Lanka. 

Pat Cummins' men have five Tests left, three against India, two in Sri Lanka. They will definitely go to Lord's with the chance to defend their title if they win four of them, while three could be sufficient as long as they avoid further over-rate deductions.

"We weren't even thinking about this when we went to the West Indies in August," said South African coach Shukri Conrad of his team's limited expectations after starting the 2023-25 WTC cycle with a 1-1 series draw against India and a 2-0 loss in New Zealand.

South Africa sent a second-string team to New Zealand for that series at the beginning of 2024 as the top-line players stayed back play in their local domestic Twenty20 competition, the SA20.

South Africa have worked their way up the table in what could be a boost for the longer format of the game in a country where it is under threat.

South Africa already play a lot fewer Tests than some countries – 12 in the latest WTC cycle to 21 for England and 19 each for Australia and India.

"In South Africa T20 cricket dominates but Test cricket is something that is still highly treasured by a lot of the players," captain Temba Bavuma said.

But poor crowds are a problem. "A lot of people say we don't play enough Tests, but they don't even show up for the few matches that we have," Cricket South Africa's chief executive Pholetsi Moseki said.

Progress to the WTC final might engineer a shift in attitude that could hand the Test format a lifeline.