Proteas looking to be more 'clinical and ruthless' with WTC final secured

The Proteas qualified for the one-off final, that will take place at Lord's in June 2025, after a narrow two-wicket victory over Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test in Centurion.

Chasing a target of 148, the home side slipped to 99-8 before an unbeaten 51-run partnership between and Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada secured a dramatic victory.

It was a tense and nervy end to the encounter with the Proteas knowing they just needed a win to book a place in the showpiece match at Lord's and the skipper accepts his team did not press home their advantage when they were on top.

Bavuma said after the victory: "If you look at our campaign, as much as we're in a position where we're in the (WTC) final, we haven't been super dominant in our performances.

"We definitely haven't been clinical or ruthless when the opportunity or the situation is called upon.

"But I think what we've done is that we've found ways to make sure that the result is on our side."

The Proteas do not have the superstar names that past such as batters Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla or the bowling names like Dale Steyn or Vernon Philander.

"If I look at our batting group, we don't have batters that are averaging 45-plus. All of us are mid-30s, late-30s, which shows that at some point guys are going to make some contribution to the team," Bavuma said.

"Our bowling line-up has pretty much changed almost every series. And guys have come in and have done the business."

Head coach Shukri Conrad also paid tribute to the collective team ethos that has been forged since he took over the job just under two years ago.

"They're a bunch of mates together that want to have a hell lot of fun and win," Conrad said. "And they're going to be some hiccups along the way, but I think they've got each other's backs.

"There's a really strong bond that's in that change room and that's probably the biggest thing that we've got right there. Everybody pulls in the same direction, and we just get on with things."

The Proteas will look to clinch a 2-0 series against Pakistan with the second Test set to get underway at Newlands from Friday.

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