WTC Final: South Africa trail by 91 runs at lunch on Day 2 at Lord`s

In the World Test Championship (WTC) final, South Africa has reached the score of 121 runs for the loss of five wickets on Day 2 at Lord`s Cricket Ground.

The Temba Bavuma-led side is now trailing by 91 runs after 49 overs. Resuming Day 2 with 43 runs, despite losing four wickets, skipper Bavuma played a knock of 36 runs off 84 deliveries. His knock was laced with four boundaries and a maximum. During his knock, the fans were seen cheering loudly for Bavuma when he smashed a humongous maximum in Cummins` over.

Shouldering him was David Bedingham, who is still unbeaten on 39 runs. At the stroke of lunch, Bedingham played 95 balls and smashed six boundaries. After Bavuma`s departure, wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne joined Bedingham and is unbeaten on 11 runs in 30 balls. Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi are the remaining Proteas players to take the strike.

Australia`s skipper Pat Cummins claimed the wicket of Bavuma, helping the side to restrict the Proteas to 121 runs at lunch on Day 2. 

So far, pacer Mitchell Starc has two wickets to his name, which he bagged on the previous day of the WTC final. Fellow pacer Josh Hazlewood and skipper Cummins have one and two wickets, respectively.

Nathan Lyon are Beau Webster are still hunting to claim their first wicket in the Lord`s encounter.

On Day 1 of the WTC final, Australia was put to bat first by South Africa. They sank to 67/4 at the end of the first session. A 79-run stand between Steve Smith (66 in 112 balls, with 10 fours) and Beau Webster (72 in 92 balls, with 11 fours) and Webster`s 46-run stand with Alex Carey (23 in 31 balls, with four boundaries) pushed Australia near to 200-run mark. But Kagiso Rabada (5/51) and Marco Jansen (3/49) continued applying pressure, reducing the Aussies to 212.

SA had an even nightmarish start, losing their four wickets for 43 runs at the end of day`s play, with none of their batters touching the 20-run mark. Mitchell Starc got two wickets, while skipper Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood got one wicket each. SA trails by 169 runs.

This article first appeared on Mid Day