Stats – Bavuma and South Africa's dream run during the WTC cycle
Bavuma was the best batter of the 2023-25 cycle and he had the best pace attack at his disposal
Deep Gadhia15-Jun-20251:08
‘Never thought this would happen’
A near-perfect home record
South Africa had a near-perfect home record during the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, winning five out of six matches across three home series. The only loss came against India in in Cape Town, where they lost by seven wickets. It was the shortest Test ever, finishing inside two days.But they whitewashed both Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Their win-loss ratio of 5.0 was the best by any team at home in this cycle, with Australia’s 3.5 (seven wins in ten home Tests) second.
Outside of home, South Africa won two of their three series, including beating Bangladesh to register their first Test series in Asia after a decade. Their win-loss ratio of 1.50 in away games was the second-best in this cycle behind Australia’s 3.0.
Eight-match winning streak
After a 2-0 loss to New Zealand in 2024 with a second-string Test side, South Africa beat West Indies 1-0 away at the halfway mark of their campaign. With three series and six Tests to go, they were seventh on the points table and needed to win all six Tests to ensure a place in the final. They did exactly that. Their winning streak of eight Tests is now the longest for any team since the WTC was introduced in 2019. The previous record was seven. India had started their 2019 campaign with seven straight wins and New Zealand levelled them with their win in the final of that cycle.If you include South Africa’s draw against West Indies at Port-of-Spain before the start of their winning run, they have the joint-longest unbeaten streak (nine Tests) in the WTC. Australia were also unbeaten for nine games from late 2021 to June 2022, registering six wins and three draws, including a 4-0 Ashes victory at home during their streak.
Captain Temba triumphs
Temba Bavuma was appointed captain ahead of the 2023-25 WTC cycle, and the role has suited him well. His nine wins in the first ten Tests as captain are the joint-most with England’s Percy Chapman.ESPNcricinfo LtdBavuma the batter also had a great time. He finished the cycle with 711 runs in 13 innings at an average of 59.30 – the second best among 153 batters who played at least five innings. In his last five Tests, Bavuma has had six 50-plus scores. Aiden Markram with three is the next best for South Africa.ESPNcricinfo LtdBavuma stitching crucial partnerships also helped South Africa throughout, including in the final. The average partnership where Bavuma was one of the batters was 60.35 runs – the most for any batter who was part of at least ten partnerships.
South Africa’s seamers shine
South Africa’s fast bowlers averaged 23.75 and had a strike rate of 41.9 – both the best for any team in this cycle. India’s fast bowlers were a close second on both average (24.65) and strike rate (42.4).
Kagiso Rabada was the wrecker-in-chief for South Africa, taking 56 wickets in 11 Tests at an average of 18.73 – the third best behind Jasprit Bumrah (15.09) and Matt Henry (18.58) among the 34 fast bowlers who took at least 15 wickets in this cycle.
A team full of match winners
Fifteen different players scored either a hundred or took a four-for in South Africa’s nine wins. No other team had as many. Nine of those 15 played the final, and four were on the bench. Rabada led the way with five four-wicket hauls. Wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne, who hit the winning runs in the final, made three centuries. They also had nine different players winning the Player-of-the-Match award, again the most for any team.