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South Africa hammered Pakistan by 10 wickets in the second Test on Monday to equal India’s record of winning the most World Test Championship matches in a row.
South Africa equal India’s record most of winning most WTC matches in a row. (Picture Credit: AP)
South Africa beat Pakistan by 10 wickets on Monday (January 6) to win the second and final Test of the two-match series, which was played at Newlands in Cape Town. The hosts dismissed the Shan Masood-led side for 478 runs in the second innings after enforcing the follow-on and then chased down the target of 58 runs in 7.1 overs without losing any wickets. The win in the final Test of the home series helped South Africa not only win their fourth Test series in a row and guarantee themselves a top-place finish in the ongoing 2023-25 edition of the World Test Championship, but it also helped Temba Bavuma’s men equal India’s record of winning seven World Test Championship matches in a row.
India won the first seven matches of the 2019-21 WTC in a row, and till date, no team in the world has managed to break that record. 2021 WTC final winners New Zealand equalled India’s feat in the 2019-21 WTC cycle, but it failed to break the record.
Most back-to-back wins in WTC
- India – 7 wins (2019-21)
- New Zealand – 7 wins (2019-21)
- South Africa – 7 wins (2023-25)
- Australia – 6 wins (2019-21)
- India – 6 wins (2023-25)
South Africa’s current win streak started in August last year when Temba Bavuma-led side hammered the West Indies by 40 runs in the second Test played at Providence Stadium in Guyana. South Africa then toured Bangladesh for a two-match Test series in October and won the series opener by 7 wickets in Mirpur and the second Test in Chattogram by an innings and 273 runs.
After two away series, South Africa hosted Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series in November-December and won the matches played in Durban and Gqeberha by 233 and 109 runs, respectively.
In the last bilateral series of the 2023-25 WTC cycle, South Africa hosted Pakistan, and in the first match of the home series, the Proteas secured a narrow win by 2 wickets in Centurion.
The record of winning the most back-to-back matches in WTC as captain is in the name of Virat Kohli. Kohli led India to win in the first seven matches of the first edition of the World Test Championship. India kicked off the WTC 2019-21 cycle with a 318-run win over the West Indies in North Sound (August 2019) and followed it up with a 257-run win in the second match of that away series.
India then hammered South Africa by 203 runs, an innings & 137 runs, and an innings & 202 runs, respectively, in the three-match Test series at home. India’s third series was against Bangladesh, and Virat Kohli’s men won the two matches by an innings & 130 runs and an innings & 46 runs.
- Location :
Cape town, South Africa
