South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said he enjoyed battling against adversity as he scored 179 on Tuesday (October 20, 2026) to turn around his side’s fortunes in the second test against Australia and also quell some of his own mental demons.
We’d just lost two early wickets, but ordinarily I’ve found myself in those situations quite many times and I guess it seems to bring out the best in me. “I think everything was in the bowlers’ favour: the conditions overhead, the wicket itself. Bavuma, who has overcome a long-standing elbow injury, not only surpassed his previous highest test score but featured in two record partnerships.
The captain produced a defiant display and showcased his batting skills as South Africa recovered from a precarious 110-6 in the morning session on the third day to declare on 425-9 before taking an Australian wicket prior to stumps, an emphatic response to their heavy defeat in last week’s first test.
“I walked into a tricky situation,” he told reporters.
“They put a heavy price on their wickets and part of our plan was to keep Australia in the field for as long as we could. He added 132 with Marco Jansen, who scored 85, to set a South African seventh-wicket record at St George’s Park, before putting on a national-record 183 for the eighth wicket with number nine Simon Harmer, who made a test career-best 82. It all went according to plan,” Bavuma added as Australia will resume at 3–1 at the start of day four.
But then from a personal point of view, to go on to getting a big 100, that’s obviously something that’s been a thorn in my side throughout my career. “The one thing was being able to get the team out of a tough situation. So it was nice to get over that mental hurdle,” he added.