Khawaja Equals Gill in Undesirable WTC Ducks Record

LONDON: Australian opening batsman Usman Khawaja achieved an unwanted milestone on Wednesday during the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final against South Africa at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

Khawaja recorded his fifth duck in the annals of WTC, thereby joining the likes of India’s Shubman Gill and South Africa’s Dean Elgar among the batsmen with the most such dismissals in the tournament.

On the first day of the WTC final, the left-handed batter was removed for a duck off 20 balls in the seventh over by South African pace bowler Kagiso Rabada.

Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah currently possesses the record for the highest number of ducks in WTC history, having been dismissed for zero a total of 20 times. Among Pakistani players, Shaheen Afridi has the most with 8 ducks.

At the time this report was compiled, Australia had reached 46-2 in 18 overs after being put in to bat, with Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith at the crease. Usman Khawaja and Cameron Green were the two batsmen dismissed, with both falling to Rabada’s bowling.

Marco Jansen dismissed Marnus Labuschagne, who became South Africa’s third victim after scoring 17 runs from 56 balls.

Notably, Australia and South Africa have clashed 101 times in Test cricket. Australia holds the advantage in head-to-head records with 54 victories, while South Africa has secured 26 wins. Twenty-one matches have concluded in draws.

Playing XIs:
  • Australia: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
  • South Africa: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (c), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi.