South Africa won the World Test Championship on Saturday, completing a remarkable turnaround to beat Australia by five wickets as they successfully chased down an imposing 282-run target.

But it was an edgy finish as they took 27.4 overs to slowly score the 69 runs needed to secure success on the fourth day at Lord’s after resuming at 213-2 overnight.

In so doing, South Africa completed a successful pursuit of the joint second-highest winning fourth-innings total in test history at the London venue.

It was a first major cricket triumph for South Africa, who had earned an unwanted reputation for failure when on the cusp of victory over the last decades in limited overs competitions.

This was their first appearance in the WTC final, with opener Aiden Markram delivering a heroic innings of 136 to ensure success.

Markram, who reached his century late on the third day, added 34 more runs on Saturday, accumulating carefully before falling to a sharp catch by Travis Head with six runs needed to win.

Kyle Verreynne hit the winning run and was four not out at the end along with David Bedingham, who scored an unbeate