On 14th of June, I went and watched Ethan Hunt’s final salvo, soon after watching Temba Bavuma lift the mace. And am still reeling from the after effects…read on.
In Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, Tom Cruise runs, jumps, flies, and glares his way through 147 implausible action sequences, three existential crises, and at least one exploding helicopter that felt like it was sponsored by Michael Bay’s leftover budget.
The film opens with Hunt, now seemingly indestructible and possibly fueled by protein bars and VFX, stealing a nuclear code hidden inside a Fabergé egg that’s lodged inside a moving train that’s balanced on a glacier… while he skydives into a volcano.
And just when you think the plot can’t get more absurd, South Africa wins the World Test Championship.
Yes, you read that right.
Temba Bavuma, whose captaincy has been scrutinized more than a Mission Impossible script draft, led the Proteas to a historic, drought-busting victory. For context, South Africa hadn’t won a major ICC trophy since the fax machine era. The last time they did, Ethan Hunt was probably still in middle school.
This World Test Championship win had everything Mission Impossible lacked:
- A coherent strategy (South Africa played with grit, not gizmos).
- Real character arcs (Bavuma went from press conference punching bag to national hero).
- And actual suspense (instead of, say, Ethan defusing a bomb using the Morse code for “YOLO”).
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While Ethan is hanging off cliffs with one pinky toe and surviving car crashes that would flatten a hippo, Bavuma is leading a team that’s finally shed its “chokers” tag, calmly playing five-day cricket like it’s their birthright.
At one point in the movie, Hunt is asked: “Do you ever stop running?” We wish someone asked the same to South Africa’s pace attack.
While Hunt was busy saving humanity from bad CGI, Bavuma was saving a nation’s cricketing soul. South Africa, long-suffering bridesmaids at ICC events, finally ditched the chokers’ tag and won the World Test Championship final at Lord’s beating Australia by five wickets.
Somewhere, Allan Donald dropped a tear. And not the 1999 kind. And at the heart of this miracle? Not a spy. Not a gadget. Not a man dangling from helicopters. But Aiden Markram — cricket’s most stylish assassin. Markram didn’t just play a match-winning knock. He composed a symphony: 136 runs off 207 balls. He helped stitch a 143-run stand with Bavuma (who scored a gritty 66) and played every ball like it was a ticking time bomb and defused it with a straight bat.
At one point, the Aussies tried sledging him. Markram smiled. That’s when they knew they were done. Even Hunt would’ve retired mid-mission if he saw Pat Cummins bowling that 8-over spell and getting nothing, while Markram just stood there, majestic as a Springbok in whites.
In conclusion, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is an overstretched protein shake of cinematic chaos that tries to be profound but ends up being a glorified Fitbit commercial. South Africa’s World Test Championship win? It’s the emotional sequel we’ve all been waiting for …with real stakes, real scars, and a real captain who didn’t need to dangle off a helicopter to win our hearts.
Final Rating:
Mission Impossible: 2 out of 5 broken IMF gadgets
South Africa’s WTC Win: 5 out of 5 vuvuzelas, plus a bonus biltong
Also Read: Australia v South Africa, WTC final 2025: Temba Bavuma’s fairytale moment at Lord’s