At long last, the forever contenders of cricketing glory, South Africa, have won what has always eluded them: a world title. An avalanche of celebratory posts is underway on Cricket Twitter after the Temba Bavuma-led side beat defending champions Australia in the 2025 World Test Championship final—their second-ever ICC trophy win and first in 27 years.

Australian cricket analyst and commentator Jarod Kimber wrote: “Been at a lot of cricket in my life. Travelled the world. But this feels as special as any of them. The team of inherited heartbreak has finally won their first world title. Against Australia, at Lord's. They lived in the shade for the longest time, no one deserves the sun more.”

Broadcaster and writer Bharat Sundaresan said: “Finally, you can say Hope is no longer a dangerous thing for South African cricket. Hope is the best of things, the most beautiful of things. South Africa, world champions, has a good ring to it.”

Many watching from India also took heart in South Africa’s victory, which continued the unbeaten run of Bavuma, whose first name literally means hope.

Speaking of Bavuma, his defiance of conventional wisdom wasn’t lost on social media either.

As Rohit Sankar, a cricket journalist and co-founder of CricXtasy, pointed out, “One month into his job as South Africa Test coach, Shukri Conrad replaced Elgar with Bavuma as captain (controversially), emphatically told he wants Markram back & to open (controversially), threw weight behind Wiaan Mulder (controversially). Look where that's gotten the team.”

In world sport, 2025 has been a year of the breaking of longstanding curses, and South Africa have overcome generations worth of heartbreak to continue that trend.

The last ICC title South Africa won was the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy. They have now conquered the world in a form of cricket held in higher regard than any other format.