BY DEAN CLOETE
Temba Bavuma wysed Sri Lanka waar Dawid die wortels gegrawe het in the first Test at Kingsmead, scoring 70 runs in the first innings and 113 in the second to help the Proteas to a helse 233-run win on Saturday.
The 34-year-old captain missed out on the Man of the Match award to beanpole fast bowler Marco Jansen, who ended with bowling figures of 7/13 as South Africa bowled Sri Lanka out for 42 in the first innings and 4/73 for a match haul of 11 scalps as the visitors got to 282 all out in the second.
But at the end of the day, Bavuma (with a height of 1.62m) was standing as tall as Jansen, who is a volle 42cm taller than him at 2.06m.
1 for you, and 1 for me🤝
Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs were presented a prize match wicket each, for their incredible centuries!😁
A match winning partnership.🇿🇦🏏#WozaNawe #BePartOfIt #SAvSL pic.twitter.com/JjBQujJDwh
Die een hand washed the other at Kingsmead, as Bavuma’s fighting 70 in the first innings helped SA to 191 all out, before the skipper again led from the front with his 113 and the 122 from Tristan Stubbs helping them to 366/5 declared in their second innings.
That innings set the visitors a winning target of 516 and despite putting on a brave fight on Saturday’s fourth day, they were too min for Shukri Conrad’s manskappe.
Asked about his captain’s gevaarlike batting in Durban, Conrad says: “That [70 in the first innings] sums up Temba. I think he’s probably at his best when the backs are against the wall and when he needs to stand up.
“I quietly whispered to him that I thought this was his best Test match that he’s played – given what’s gone before, he’s come off a long layoff [because of injury].
“The way he’s battled through stuff, that really epitomises Temba and that’s what we want to see in the side...”
He adds: “Stubbs’ contribution [was special], Marco was brilliant, but Temba was super special...”
SA will look to wrap up the two-match series in the second Test innie Baai from December 5. They will have to do so without Gerald Coetzee, who was replaced by Kwena Maphaka after suffering a groin injury in Durban.
