SA’s Bavuma is sure things will get better for him Down Under

South Africa v South Australia XI (warm-up) South Africa: 489 all out (Elgar 117, Du Plessis 102, De Kock 99)

SOUTH AFRICA’S leading batsmen once again put in a good day’s work in the final warm-up match at Glenelg ahead of the first Test against Australia in Perth next week, but there will be a growing concern about the form of opener Stephen Cook.

Cook’s opening partner Dean Elgar enjoyed some good time in the middle with an innings of 117 off 143 balls (12x4; 4x6) before he retired. Captain Faf du Plessis also registered a century (102 from 112 balls) after missing out in the day-night fixture last week against a Cricket Australia XI in Adelaide.

Du Plessis was particularly aggressive against left-arm spinner Tom Andrews, with the Proteas skipper reaching his century with two consecutive sixes.

Elgar and Du Plessis combined for a 179-run partnership for the fourth wicket after the Proteas lost three early wickets. Cook was the first to depart when he edged a seaming delivery from opening bowler David Grant behind.

The Proteas opener was visibly disappointed in missing out again, after his double failure against the pink ball at the Adelaide Oval last week when he only managed scores of 5 and 12. It follows on from scores of 5, 97 not out, 31 and 14 in the Sunfoil Series before the 33-year-old departed for Australia.

Cook, though, was not the only one to fall victim to Grant’s impressive opening spell as the lanky 19-year-old produced a carbon-copy delivery to Hashim Amla (9) with the same result occurring.

However, Rilee Rossouw (22) did his chances of pushing for a place in the starting XI in the series opener at the Waca next week no favours at all through his own poor shot selection. Despite the presence of a healthy slip cordon, the left-hander opened the face of his bat to follow an innocuous delivery slanted across him from medium-pacer Cameron Valente straight into the hands of first slip Sam Raphael.

Fellow left-hander Quinton de Kock, though, is seeing the ball as big as a watermelon at the moment, as he again blitzed 99 off just 94 balls to push South Africa towards a total in the region of 500.

There were also starts for Temba Bavuma (43) again and Vernon Philander (41 retired), with the former looking to convert his cameos into something meaningful come Test match time.

“It’s nice to be out there in a game situation, it beats the nets,” Bavuma, pictured, said after play yesterday. “Personally, I’ve struggled a little. Playing at the Adelaide (Oval) and then coming and playing here at a club ground, it’s been contrasting conditions between the two. But for the other guys it’s been quite good and I’m sure as the tour goes on, things will get better.” –