The opening day of the 2025 ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final between Australia and South Africa witnessed a bizarre slice of cricketing history—one that had never occurred in England in 145 years of Test matches. Pacers ruled the roost on Day 1, with them taking 12 wickets of the total 14 scalps taken, with only 255 runs getting scored. With the Lord’s surface offering enough assistance to pacers, both innings started in an enthralling fashion.
What bizarre feat happened on Day 1 of WTC Final?
Both teams’ number one batters, i.e., Usman Khawaja for Australia and Aiden Markram for South Africa, were dismissed for ducks in their respective first innings.
This is the first time in 561 Test matches played on English soil since 1880 that both openers from either side have been dismissed for zero in the first innings of a Test. Usman Khawaja lasted 20 balls before falling to a threatening Kagiso Rabada, who starred with a fifer. Meanwhile, Markram faced just six deliveries before Mitchell Starc knocked him over in the day’s opening over of South Africa’s innings.
A Rare feat in Test history
Overall, this is only the 10th instance in Test history where the No. 1 batters from both teams were dismissed for ducks in the first innings. Remarkably, Australia has been involved in six of these occurrences, and Mitchell Starc alone has now claimed the opener’s wicket in three of them.
| Player 1 | Player 2 | Match | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunil Gavaskar | John Dyson | AUS vs IND | Melbourne | 1977 |
| Kris Srikkanth | Gordon Greenidge | IND vs WI | Delhi | 1987 |
| Gary Kirsten | Matthew Hayden | SA vs AUS | Gqeberha | 1997 |
| Adrian Griffith | Neil Johnson | WI vs ZIM | Port of Spain | 2000 |
| Hannan Sarkar | Dwayne Smith | WI vs BAN | St. Lucia | 2004 |
| Alastair Cook | Stiaan van Zyl | SA vs ENG | Durban | 2015 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | Joe Burns | SL vs AUS | Galle | 2016 |
| Joe Burns | Mayank Agarwal | AUS vs IND | Melbourne | 2020 |
| David Warner | Rory Burns | AUS vs ENG | Hobart | 2022 |
| Usman Khawaja | Aiden Markram | AUS vs SA (WTC Final) | Lord’s | 2025 |
Despite early trouble, half-centuries from Steve Smith (66) and Beau Webster (72) gave Australia some resistance before they were bowled out for 212. Kagiso Rabada’s fiery 5/51 not only rocked the Aussies but also saw him leapfrog Allan Donald on South Africa’s all-time wicket charts.
As if Rabada’s milestone wasn’t enough, Day 1 closed with South Africa reeling at 43/4, which capped a day that will be remembered both for its high drama.
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