The WTC 2025 Final win has taken a lot of pain away: Allan Donald

Former South African pacer Allan Donald has opened up on Proteas winning the WTC 2025 Final after defeating Australia by five wickets to win their first-ever ICC title after 1998 at the Lord’s in London.

While the country has produced a lot of top-class cricketers since its last ICC title triumph in 1998, Donald has been part of the biggest heartbreak due to the two significant World Cup moments in 1992 and 1999.

“It’s a massive, massive day in South African cricket, it’s a massive day in South African sport. It’s something that unites this country so closely. To get that over the line shuts the door that’s over 30-odd years old. Or maybe I’ve jumped the years a little bit, but it’s something that’s taken a lot of pain away as you know. Not really going to go into that detail (laughs), but you know what I’m talking about with us and ICC events,” Donald is quoted as saying by Cricblog.

It’s important to note that Donald, who was part of the 1992 World Cup squad for South Africa, fell victim to DLS miscalculations after the rain interrupted the semi-final against England. At one stage, they needed 22 off 13 balls, and later, it was revised to 22 off one ball.

Later in the 1999 World Cup, Donald was the non-striker who didn’t complete the one run that was needed to win in the semi-final against Australia. He lost his grip with the bat and got run-out, which resulted in a tie and Australia went ahead to the final after finishing higher in the league stage.

“This team, this group have shown, in the Test Championship, in the cycle, that they’ve had to win eight Test matches in a row… just showed immense character, immense character,” Donald said.

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