Australian batting legend Matthew Hayden and South African pace icon Dale Steyn have voiced strong criticism regarding Pat Cummins’ ‘defensive’ captaincy during the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s.
Their contention is that Australia squandered an opportunity to exert more pressure on South African batsmen Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma, especially with Bavuma visibly struggling with an injury.
Chasing a daunting target of 282 on a challenging pitch, South Africa found themselves at 70 for 2, having lost Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder. Bavuma sustained a hamstring strain at just six runs, and despite continuing his innings, he was visibly hobbled, unable to run hard for threes. Nevertheless, the pair forged a crucial 143-run partnership from 232 balls, with Markram remaining unbeaten on 102 and Bavuma on 65. The Proteas ended the day at 213 for 2, needing just 69 more runs for victory.
Hayden expressed his dismay to broadcasters after the day’s play. “You know, this defensive effort here from Australia, it was all about how they were going to take wickets and how they were going to do that early. You know, when they got through to Mulder, they got through Rickelton, and they had to put at that point pressure on Bavuma. They had to put those catching cover areas, had to be less defensive, more attacking. Can you imagine if those first couple of balls had been chipped up? South Africa would have been three down. Australia would’ve got control of the match. So for me, that was a trick… Yes, it’s flat conditions, but you must take 10 wickets to defend the World Test Championship. You must take the top three out of play.”
Steyn echoed Hayden’s sentiments, highlighting that Australia’s fielding was not aggressive enough to truly challenge the batsmen. “Yeah, a little bit surprised, I think. You know, you have to adapt with the flow of the game, and obviously today, we’ve seen the ball has been keeping really low, it hasn’t really managed to make it to the slips, even from yesterday. And, you know, whenever we used to play, I would play a place like India, your short cover, short midwicket, it doesn’t matter. They’re as good as cordon slips in South Africa or Australia or something like that. So on days like this, when the ball is not travelling and it’s not making its way to the slips, you have to have those guys in those kinds of catching positions.”
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