Such a relief: Ngidi on prized scalp of Smith during WTC Final

Starc's historic 50 at No. 9 and 59-run stand with Hazlewood boosted Australia's lead

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

The task is cut out for South Africa. They have to chase down 282 runs to beat Australia and lift the ICC World Test Championship mace, which would be their first major world championship in cricket, and a deep dive into statistics proves that as easy it might sound with over two-and-a-half days worth of action left, Proteas will have to play out of their skins to pull off this chase.

A frustrating stand between Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood for 10th wicket, during which they put on 59 runs and Starc scored a historic first-ever fifty by a player batting at number nine or below in an ICC knockout match, took Aussies from 152/9 to 207, helping them put up a challenging 282 to chase for Proteas.

Notably, at Lord's only two successful run-chases of 280 runs or more have taken place: 342 by West Indies in 1984 against England (win by nine wickets) and 282 by England against New Zealand in 2004 (win by seven wickets).

The first was a nine-wicket win led by Gordon Greenidge's 214*, the only wicket falling in the innings. The second was a seven-wicket win for the hosts, led by Nasser Hussain's 103* in his farewell Test and phenomenal knocks from Andrew Strauss (112 and 83).

Also, South Africa chased down targets of 250-plus in Test cricket only five times till date. The good news is, three of them have come against Australia with their last such chase coming at WACA Stadium in Perth back in 2008, when Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers cracked centuries to chase down a massive 414 runs.