South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma celebrates after hitting a century on day three of the second cricket test match between South Africa and Australia, in Gqeberha, South Africa. AP/PTI
Simon Harmer played a key role in the victory, taking 6/16 in the second innings and finishing with match figures of 10/120. Kagiso Rabada claimed three early wickets as Australia were bowled out for 111 while chasing 288.
“It’s tough, to be honest,” he said. The win in Cape Town also took South Africa to the top of the ICC Test rankings. “You wake up every day asking yourself to be at your best.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma believes his team have answered questions about their World Test Championship (WTC) triumph after completing a 2-1 series win over Australia. The Proteas came back from a defeat in the opening Test to win the next two matches, including the series decider by 176 runs at Newlands on Saturday. Physically, there’s times where you feel like you can’t go at 100%, but you need to dig deep, and if the opportunity’s there, make sure you’re in the best mental space to make the play for the team. It came after South Africa had gone almost a year without playing a Test and 21 months without playing one at home.
” Bavuma described the series as “15 days of just pressure”. He said the opening defeat in Durban had been a “rude awakening”. “There were two quality sides who came up against each other, and really forced each other to play their best cricket,” Bavuma said.
Even if things don’t go well for you with the ball or the bat, you still need to be looking at ways as to how you can contribute within the team. “It will be important for us to acknowledge what we’ve achieved, celebrate whatever milestones, take whatever learnings that come with it, and really bask in what we’ve achieved. In the two-and-a-half years, if you look at the team, we’ve been able to squeeze out every inch of every individual. Bavuma also hopes the team’s performances will change how they are viewed by critics, who have questioned whether their WTC title was a one-off achievement.