<p>It’s time for Test Cricket’s Grand Final! - The World Test Championship Final is finally here.</p> <p>After the first two finals were played at different venues around England, finally the decider on who will be crowned the best Test nation in the world for this cycle will be contested at the ‘Home of Cricket’ - Lord’s.</p> <p>Last cycle winners Australia, and South Africa, two old rivals finished at the top of the standings this cycle, and will battle it out for supremacy in the longest and best form of the game.</p> <p>Can the Aussies continue their excellence at the red-ball game and defend the crown that they won at ‘The Oval’ in 2023? Or can South Africa finally shake their ICC trophy curse and bring the first major cricketing trophy home to the rainbow nation?</p> <p>For the best tips for the ultimate Test, check out our World Test Championship 2025 Preview and Predictions below.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>South Africa vs Australia | WTC Final Preview</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Australia, once again has the chance to make history and become the first two-time winners of the World Test Championship mace.&nbsp;</p> <p>Another excellent cycle with some big series, including an away ‘Ashes’ and a home, five-test Border-Gavaskar Trophy included among the 19 Tests played. Australia only lost four Tests over the 18-month cycle (two to England, one to India, and one to Shamar Joseph &amp; the West Indies) and drew two others in an otherwise dominant cycle. All while starting to transition their team as a generation of players gets closer to the end of their glittering careers.</p> <p>Meanwhile, South Africa has reached the Final, almost in spite of the cricketing world and the feeling towards the country’s cricketing priorities.&nbsp;</p> <p>The Proteas played just the 12 Test matches this cycle - the equal least of any team, and only played two Test series which was the source of much discussion. Not to mention, there was a tour to New Zealand they effectively forfeited when they sent the equivalent of a third XI team for the two-Test series after the country’s cricketing governing body ordered all of the country’s main contracted players to stay and play in the country's domestic T20 competition.&nbsp;</p> <p>But, you can only beat who’s in front of you, and they handled their business well enough, winning eight games, losing three, and drawing one to find themselves here in the final.</p> <p>Australia has some decisions to make about their batting order, none bigger than who will be walking out with Usman Khawaja to open the batting.</p> <p>Will it be young tyro Sam Konstas? Who took the cricketing world by storm on Boxing Day, Or will it be someone else?</p> <p>Once a run machine, Marnus Labuschage has been under pressure to hold his spot in the XI after an extended lean patch of form, but he has been floated as an option to go up to open in a retro-fitted XI to accommodate the returning Cameron Green.&nbsp;</p> <p>Then there is the question of the bowlers, and how to make four elite fast bowlers go into three spots. It once again looks like a battle between Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland for that final spot in the XI.</p> <p>For South Africa, their opening partnership has been confirmed with Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickleton to open up, with decisions to be made on who fills the other important batting slots around them.</p> <p>Superstar fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will lead the bowling attack with allrounder Marco Jansen. The Proteas might decide to go with an all-out pace attack and no spinner, given the early summer fixture.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>South Africa vs Australia | WTC Final Betting Tips &amp; Predictions</h2> <h3>Head-to-Head (H2H)</h3> <p>Australia will go in as warm favourites. With the game being played in England, particularly early in the season and the UK’s finicky weather, the Draw is absolutely a feasible option here.</p> <p>But, as with the previous two WTC Finals, these matches are six-day matches instead of the regulation five-day Test matches to ensure an outright result is achieved.&nbsp;</p> <p>Australia won the last series they played against South Africa 2-0 in the home summer of 2022/23. Unusually, this will be the country's second meeting at Lord’s which is quite rare. The pair met at the home of cricket in 1912 as part of a Triangular Test series where Australia won by 10 wickets.</p> <p>The Aussies record at Lord’s has been strong ever since, winning 16 matches and losing just seven of the 38 Tests played there, including an undefeated run between 1934-2009.&nbsp;</p> <p>South Africa too has a stunning record at the venue since readmission in 1990, winning five of the seven matches played there.&nbsp;</p> <p>It’s going to be tight all the way through with the ball mainly dominating the bat, but we’re picking Australia because when it comes to big matches and finals, they just know how to get it done.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Betting tip: </strong><a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/cricket/icc-world-test-championship/south-africa-v-australia-9215514">Australia</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Top Run Scorer</h3> <p>Steve Smith’s record at Lord’s is incredible.</p> <p>Nine innings, 525 runs with an average of 58.33. He has two centuries, including a memorable 215 in 2015. It’s the third-highest individual score by a visiting batter at the ground.&nbsp;</p> <p>Just like he did in 2023 at ‘The Oval’ against India with a first-innings ton to set up the win, we think he’ll top the list and set up the game for his country.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Betting tip:</strong> <a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/cricket/icc-world-test-championship/south-africa-v-australia-9215514">Steve Smith</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Highest Wicket Taker</h3> <p>Move over Stuart Broad and Jasprit Bumrah, Kagiso Rabada is the bowler that keeps Australian batters up at night.</p> <p>His rivalry with Australia is intense and storied. Bursting on the scene on his first tour in 2016 with his raw pace and racing boiling point during that infamous and dramatic 2018 series in South Africa.</p> <p>He has 49 wickets at a strike rate of 39.9 against the Aussies with multiple wickets against all key batters.&nbsp; He has 13 wickets from two games at Lord’s. His last outing there in 2022&nbsp; saw him take a five-wicket haul against England, becoming the first South African bowler since 2012 to take his place on the famous honours boards.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Betting tip: </strong><a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/cricket/icc-world-test-championship/south-africa-v-australia-9215514">Kagiso Rabada</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Player of the Match</h3> <p>Early season matches in England usually point to matches being low-scoring, played under heavy cloud coverage, and bowlers getting right on top of the batters.</p> <p>It would be easy to choose the Aussie skipper Pat Cummins who will lead from the front and, as he has so often when his side has needed him as skipper, deliver in the biggest of moments.</p> <p>A big captain's performance to bring home a second WTC title? That’s what Australia wants right?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Betting tip: </strong><a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/cricket/icc-world-test-championship/south-africa-v-australia-9215514">Pat Cummins&nbsp;</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>How to Watch the World Test Championship Final</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Unlike the 2023 version of the World Test Championship finale, which was shown on free-to-air television, this one will not be broadcast on free-to-air television anywhere in the world.</p> <p>In line with the ICC’s new broadcast deal, the Test match will be shown on Amazon Prime. The global streaming giant acquired the rights for all ICC events for the 2024-27 period.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>World Test Championship Final 2025 Match Details</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Location: </strong>Lord’s, London, England</p> <p><strong>Date: </strong>Wednesday, June 11th - Monday 16th June 2025</p> <p><strong>Start time: </strong>8:00 PM AEST</p> <p><strong>Where to Watch: </strong>Amazon Prime</p>