Temba Bavuma chose to have Australia bat first under the overcast London skies, and the South Africa bowlers and fielders validated his decision as the defending champions were sent four down for only 67 runs in the opening session of the World Test Championship final at Lord's.

Kagiso Rabada got the early breakthrough by dismissing Usman Khawaja for a 20-ball duck after repeatedly testing the outside edge with his angled deliveries. This was after he returned from a one-month ban for taking cocaine during a drugs test earlier this year. Finally, at slip, he managed to steal the rising ball to David Bedingham.

Cameron Green was out only three deliveries after returning to the test squad following back surgery. With a boundary, he started off well, and with his next delivery, he edged Rabada to second slip, where Aiden Markram made an excellent low catch despite Wiaan Mulder's drive. In the morning session, the right-armer gave up only nine runs during his terrifying six-over stint.

Marco Jansen took over following the Rabada spectacle. At the expense of specialist opener Sam Konstas, Australia lured Marnus Labuschagne into the lineup and elevated him to the order, but the batter. He began his first innings as an opener patiently, scoring 17 runs off 56 balls, before edging Jansen's complete delivery outside the wicket to wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne.

A fantastic diving catch to his right to end Travis Head's dismissal for 11 brought the first session in London to a conclusion. The floodlights remained on the entire time because the clouds didn't clear. Steve Smith remained undefeated with 26.

South Africa gained more rewards from the longer-length deliveries, taking three wickets in 31 balls for 46 runs. They captured one wicket—the Khawaja—off nineteen of the other deliveries that were on length.

At the renowned Lord's, the first sessions have often been the most challenging for hitters. In the previous seven Tests since 2022, an average of only 18.18 wickets have fallen in the first 15 overs of the game. In six of those games, the batting side has lost at least two wickets throughout this period. The lone exception was the 2023 Ashes in Australia, when Khawaja and David Warner's opening partnership scored 73 runs in 23.1 overs.

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