South Africa will face Pakistan in the WCL 2025 final on August 2.
41-year-old AB de Villiers showed that he hadn’t missed a beat when it came to competitive cricket as he effected a brilliant run-out in the WCL 2025 semi-final against Australia and sent South Africa into the final of the World Championship of Legends in the ongoing 2025 edition.
De Villiers once again demonstrated why he is among the best in the history of the game with a game-winning moment in the field during a thrilling semifinal match against Australia at Edgbaston.
Dan Christian squeezed Wayne Parnell's accurate yorker toward long-on, but he was only able to manage a scrambling single with Australia needing three runs off the last ball. However, he chose the incorrect man for the exam.
Patrolling the boundary, De Villiers charged in, snatched the ball at full power, and rifled in a rocket throw that struck the non-striker's end stumps. Nathan Coulter-Nile was nowhere close, and just like that, South Africa sealed a thrilling 1-run victory and booked their spot in the WCL final.
South Africa coach Allan Donald jumped up in ecstasy, as he was involved in a similar situation in the 1999 World Cup, when he was the one who got run out with South Africa needing one run against Australia and the Proteas crashing out of the tournament.
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AB de Villiers has been in supreme form on his return to cricket with two centuries and over 300 runs in the tournament.
Coming to the match, the South African champions had posted 186/8 in 20 overs after opting to bat first. JJ Smuts made 57 runs, and Morne Van Wyk made 76 runs. Peter Siddle had picked 4/30 for Australia.
In reply, Dan Christian made 49*, while there were contributions from Chris Lynn (35), D’Arcy Short (33), and Shaun Marsh (25), but Australia fell one run short of the target. Hardus Viljoen and Wayne Parnell took 2 wickets each for South Africa.
South Africa will now face Pakistan in the final of WCL 2025 on August 2 in Birmingham. Pakistan qualified for the final as India refused to play them in the first semi-final.