BAVOOMA slams debut ton
South Africa 354/5 Ireland 148 South Africa win by 206 runs
IF YOU’D only watched the first 19 balls of Temba Bavuma’s innings at Willowmoore Park in Benoni yesterday you may have wondered why the selectors bothered with risking him in the ODI side, and in the top order – where he’d only batted twice before in limited-overs cricket – to boot.
Those 19 balls made for grim viewing. Bavuma battled against the lanky Peter Chase; he played and missed, should have been caught by Kevin O’Brien at second slip when he edged an outswinger and then nearly chopped the ball on to his stumps. That was just “Chase’s” first over.
Bavuma was making his ODI debut yesterday on account of Hashim Amla and his wife awaiting the birth of their third child – so there was little for him to lose – aside from confidence, of course.
For 19 balls, it looked like his confidence was on the wane. And then, off the 20th ball, he flicked the switch. He produced a sublime cover drive for four against Tim Murtagh, and with that one shot, his innings and this match changed.
His feet moved better, he was getting into line and his shot-making was of the sort those who’ve been watching him domestically for many years and, more recently, in the Test side, have come to enjoy.
“I didn’t feel any kind of fluency throughout, which was probably due to the nature of the wicket – it was a bit two-paced,” said Bavuma, who claimed that he struggled to hit through the line of the ball.
Nevertheless, he pulled with power, drove elegantly, whether on the ground or through the air, and also ran energetically between the wickets, helping to carve out an excellent opening stand with Quinton de Kock.
In stark contrast to Bavuma’s start, De Kock looked in complete control – clearly married life suits him well – as he punished anything remotely offline from a committed, though limited, Irish attack.
De Kock made 82 off just 66 balls, and the rate at which he scored, especially early on, gave Bavuma time to settle and by the time he caught up, South Africa were utterly dominant.
“I was able to perform the way I did today because of the way Quinny plays. Up front he’ll make any wicket look flat. It allowed me to take a bit more time to settle the nerves,” said Bavuma.
The opening stand eventually totalled 159, and given the rate at which De Kock and Bavuma were scoring, a total in excess of 400 looked to be on the cards for the home team.
Bavuma, timing the ball sweetly and playing with a kind of freedom he seemed to relish, overcame a brief bout of nerves at the start of the 90s – he was stuck on 90 for 10 balls – to complete a lovely century with a delightful lofted cover drive.
In the process he helped dispel any concerns there may be about the back-up for Amla. His scoring rate yesterday was 91.86, very good by any estimation, especially for a player who has rarely played in that position. He was dismissed for 113, which were scored off 123 balls and included 13 fours and one powerfully pulled six.
“Your intensity in one-day cricket has to be higher – even when you’re blocking the ball, you have to do so with intent,” he said afterwards.
“Today I struggled with that. But generally I’m a positive player, I look to put the bad ball away, and today that’s what I can attribute my success to.”
Bavuma’s wicket came amid a brief wobble, in which the hosts lost three wickets for 46 runs in eight overs – it was Ireland’s best period of the match – and required a short period of rebuilding before an astonishing assault from JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien propelled South Africa’s total beyond 350.
The pair put on 87 for the fifth wicket off just 6.4 overs, with the oft-maligned Behardien smashing 50 off just 22 balls. Duminy’s unbeaten 52 came off 43 balls and was the first half of what turned out to be an excellent all-round contribution from him,which saw him finish with his best bowling figures in ODIs, 4/16.
Dwaine Pretorius claimed a wicket on debut, and the third debutant yesterday, Andile Phehlukwayo, had a competent start with the ball, until O’Brien got stuck into him.
The Irish will face world champions Australia here tomorrow.
South Africa will start preparations for the first ODI against Australia in Centurion on Friday.