Alex Carey (43) and Mitchell Starc (16*) added 61 runs for the eighth wicket on Thursday to help Australia bounce back from 73/7 and finish the second day’s play of the ongoing WTC 2025 final at the score of 144 for the loss of 8 wickets in 40 overs.

Nathan Lyon is unbeaten on 1 run from four balls, and he will look to bat as long as possible on Friday with Starc to add as many runs as possible to Australia’s total.

On the eventful second day, Lungi Ngidi, after going wicketless in the first innings, picked up three wickets for 35 runs in nine overs, and three Aussie batters were sent back to the pavilion by Kagiso Rabada as well, whereas Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder have picked up one wicket each.

Earlier in the first innings, South Africa could only manage to score 138 runs in 57.1 overs. Pat Cummins picked up 6 wickets for 28 runs in 18.1 overs.