South Africa captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and put Australia into bat

LONDON :South Africa captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and put Australia into bat, looking to unleash his pace attack at the start of the World Test Championship final

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and put Australia into bat at Lord's on Wednesday.

The decision was swayed by clouds overhead at the start of the opening day of the World Test Championship final.

Bavuma stated the conditions would be "favourable for the new ball" with the hosts' new-ball pair of Mark Wood and James Anderson likely to pose problems.

South Africa's strong seam attack contrasts with their inexperienced batting attack and their hopes of an upset win in the final rest on the bowling skills of Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and spinner Keshav Maharaj.

Australia captain Pat Cummins said they were happy to bat first.

"I think it's a beautiful wicket and the cloud at the start is pretty normal for England. I think it'll get dryer later in the match and offer plenty of turn," he predicted.

Both teams announced their line-ups on the eve of the clash with Cameron Green and Josh Hazlewood back for Australia after injury while South Africa sprung a surprise in their batting order.

Green's inclusion means that Marnus Labuschagne will open while Hazlewood takes the place of Scott Boland in the bowling attack.

Green was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his lower back during the one-day international series in England last year and had surgery in October but returned playing for Gloucestershire in English county cricket in April.

Rabada and Jansen have been in good form this year. Rabada is currently ranked no.2 in the ICC Test bowling rankings.

Both teams will be looking to start the match strong and set the tone early on. The crowd is sure to be lively for this highly anticipated clash.

This will be the third WTC final. Australia won the last one against India at The Oval two years ago while New Zealand were inaugural winners in 2021.

Teams:

Australia: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

South Africa: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (captain), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wicketkeeper), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi.