Australian skipper Pat Cummins put on a show with the ball to put his team in a commanding position on Day 2 of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against South Africa at Lord’s.
Cummins returned with the figures of 6-28, helping the defending champions bundle out the Proteas for a paltry 138.
It was a historic performance by Cummins, and one which took him to 300 career Test wickets. He also became only the fourth captain to pick up five wickets in an innings at Lord’s, and by claiming the final wicket of the innings, became the only captain to have 6 wickets in a single innings at this iconic venue.
Having dismissed Wiaan Mulder in the last session on Day 1, Cummins came back on the morning of the second day to get rid of his counterpart, having Temba Bavuma caught at cover by a diving Marnus Labuschagne.
However, Cummins stole the show with his post-lunch exploits. He removed Kyle Verreynne and Marco Jansen in the same over, before coming back to dismiss set man David Bedingham to complete his five-fer. Kagiso Rabada was his last victim and it was this wicket that wrapped up the South African innings as well.
Here’s the video of all his dismissals:
During the innings break, Pat Cummins reflected on his performance and said, “At lunch we walked in, they were batting pretty well, so good to get a first innings lead.”
Cummins also expressed how much it meant for him to reach the milestone of 300 Test wickets. “It’s more than I could have asked for. For any fast bowler 300 is a big number, have battled through niggles injuries to play well on different occasions and gotten through it.”
Cummins’ effort ensured that Australia gaining a significant lead of 74 runs after posting a modest 212/10 on the board in their first innings.
