Bavuma’s career-best knock inspires Proteas against Australia

October 20, 2026 22

Proteas captain, Temba Bavuma, produced a career-best Test score to put South Africa in a strong position in the second Test against Australia.

After slipping to 97/5, the hosts fought back strongly on Day 3 of their second ICC World Test Championship match against Australia in Gqeberha.

Bavuma was central to their fightback, stitching together 179 runs off 334 deliveries, an innings laced with 18 fours and a maximum.

It was the highest score for Bavuma in the longest format of the game, surpassing his previous best of 172 against the West Indies in 2023.

“Yeah, definitely one of my better ones,” Bavuma said after the match.

“I think looking at the situation of the game, and I think personally as well, I found myself a lot in those types of situations, coming in early, trying to manage myself to kind of scramble through to a 50 or 60.

“But I think what was nice was my ability to take it even further and make it count.”

The 36-year-old also credited his childhood hero, Sachin Tendulkar, admitting that he draws inspiration from the Indian batting great’s technique.

“I try to emulate my technique to his,” Bavuma said.

“I’m obviously not a big guy. I’m not really going to get any big strides in. I try to be efficient in terms of my movement.

“Sometimes it gets me into trouble. But I think for me, that’s generally what works. I try to play the ball as close to my body as possible.”

Bavuma received valuable support from Marco Jansen (85) and Simon Harmer (82), who stitched together crucial partnerships as the hosts declared their first innings at 425/9.

The hosts also made an early breakthrough with the ball, as Kagiso Rabada opened South Africa’s account.

The right-arm quick, who missed the series opener, wasted little time making an impact, dismissing Nic Maddinson in his first over.

Australia ended the day on three runs for the loss of one wicket.

Stumps, Day 3! 🔥

A fiery finish to the day thanks to Kagiso “John Wick” Rabada! 👏🇿🇦

Australia end the day on 3/1 after 4 overs, trailing by 422 runs. 🎯

We’ll be back tomorrow from 09:45am as the second Dafabet Test continues in Gqeberha! 💪

#Unbreakable #SAvAUS https://t.co/FkA9aUMBQI

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) October 20, 2026