Australia’s attempt to retain the World Test Championship (WTC) title went in vain as the Pat Cummins-led side suffered a five-wicket defeat at the hands of South Africa in the title clash at Lord’s on Saturday (June 14).

Reflecting on the loss, Cummins stated that the outcome might have been different if his team had managed to bat for one more session in the crucial fixture.

Despite gaining a significant first-innings lead of 74 runs, Australia failed to prevent South Africa from successfully chasing down 282 on Saturday afternoon.

“Things can change quickly, but unfortunately, it was beyond our reach. With a solid first-innings lead, that’s when you aim to bat the opposition out of the game, and we didn’t manage to do that."

“If we had batted for another session, the conditions might have favoured us more. South Africa were excellent in that fourth innings. The pitch didn’t offer much, but they gave us no chances. They demonstrated why they are here and are worthy winners, maintaining their position throughout," said Cummins during the post-match presentation.

When asked if the collapse in the second innings, where Australia were reduced to 73/7, was due to conditions or the top order’s performance, Cummins replied, “A bit of both. It’s been an amazing two years, and the team has performed exceptionally to reach this point. It just didn’t come together in this match. For the first two days, the bowlers were fantastic and consistently made the ball move, so it was probably a combination of both factors."

Sharing his views on the WTC format, Cummins remarked, “It’s the pinnacle; I love Test cricket. Reaching the final is a significant achievement, and a one-game shootout is quite a spectacle. Although we didn’t win, it has been a great week."

(With IANS Inputs)