South Africa Qualify for WTC Final | Cricket Echoes, Dec '24

South Africa narrowly avoids the choke — qualifies for the WTC Final.

29th December, 05:30 pm IST

It was tense in the last hour of the first test between SA and Pakistan in current series. Chasing 148 in the fourth innings, SA were 96 for 4, and in the blink of an eye were down to the last two wickets with 49 still required. But Rabada, joining Marco Jansen at the crease, showed little nerves as he counter-attacked for a match-winning 26 ball 31. Jansen ably supported him with his 24 ball 16.

With this win, South Africa have also qualified for their first ever World Test Championship Final. This leaves only two major contendors for the remaining spot - India and Australia.

India need to win both their remaining matches for direct qualification, and if they lose both, they will be eliminated and Australia will qualify. Every other result will depend on outcomes of other matches to the give us the other finalist.

Pakistan Script History as They Whitewash South Africa in ODIs

Pakistan wins the three match ODI series 3-0, and with that, becomes the first team to clean sweep South Africa in ODIs on their home soil. Their new opener, Saim Ayub, has been a rising star for them in the last couple of months. In his 9 ODI innings so far, he has scored 515 runs at an average of 64 and has notched up three centuries. This augers well for Pakistan for the upcoming Champions Trophy which will majorly be played in their home grounds.

For South Africa, only Heinrich Klassen provided some strength to their batting with his flawless, counter-attacking scores of 86, 97, and 81.

Champions Trophy 2025

UAE finalised as the neutral venue for India games in the CT 2025.

The Champions Trophy 2025 hosting and scheduling saga has finally come to an end. The host, Pakistan, has accepted the hybrid model for the CT 2025 while India, ICC, and the broadcasters have also agreed upon Pakistan's conditions of playing all the India-Pakistan games in the current cycle of 2024-27 in neutral venues.

"This will apply to the upcoming ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (hosted by Pakistan), set to be played in February and March 2025, as well as the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (hosted by India) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (hosted by India and Sri Lanka).", read the ICC's statement on 19th December.