The third ICC World Test Championship cycle is slated for a finish on Saturday as South Africa and Australia resume play with 69 runs on the line. While the Proteas are closing in on a historic triumph, skipper Temba Bavuma leads the batting charts for the team this edition that began in mid-2023 after Australia beat India in the previous final at the Oval in June that year.
Interestingly, none of South Africa’s batters find themselves among the top-20 run getters in the WTC 2023-25 cycle. England batter Joe Root topped the charts for a second cycle in succession, notching up 1968 runs at a 54.66 average. Root also topped the century-makers list, having piled on seven hundreds during the course of the WTC cycle. The former England captain, who recently went past 13,000 Test runs, has finished in the top two run-scorers of all three cycles thus far. Root continues to dominate the World Test Championship, leading the combined charts in the history of the tournament with 5543 in 117 innings, averaging 51.80 with 18 centuries.
Following Root on the chart this time is Yashasvi Jaiswal, whose maiden WTC campaign since his Test debut in 2023 has garnered him 1798 runs. In 19 Tests, Jaiswal has slammed four centuries and 10 fifties to emerge as the most successful opener in the campaign, averaging north of 52. England batters Ben Duckett, Harry Brook and Ben Duckett make up the top five as a total of 15 players aggregated more than 1000 runs in the cycle. New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, Australia’s Steve Smith and Sri Lankan batter Kamindu Mendis are the other players in the top 10 who accumulated five centuries.
Most runs in ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle
| Player | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | 100 | 50 |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 40 | 1968 | 262 | 54.66 | 7 | 7 |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal (IND) | 36 | 1798 | 214* | 52.88 | 4 | 10 |
| Ben Duckett (ENG) | 41 | 1470 | 153 | 36.75 | 2 | 8 |
| Harry Brook (ENG) | 29 | 1463 | 317 | 50.44 | 4 | 7 |
| Usman Khawaja (AUS) | 39 | 1428 | 232 | 39.66 | 2 | 6 |
| Steve Smith (AUS) | 37 | 1403 | 141 | 41.26 | 5 | 5 |
| Travis Head (AUS) | 36 | 1197 | 152 | 34.2 | 3 | 5 |
| Zak Crawley (ENG) | 34 | 1175 | 189 | 34.55 | 1 | 8 |
| Kane Williamson (NZ) | 22 | 1152 | 156 | 54.85 | 5 | 4 |
| Kamindu Mendis (SL) | 20 | 1123 | 182* | 62.38 | 5 | 3 |