How Bavuma overcame ODI debut jitters

If you'd only watched the first 19 balls of Temba Bavuma's innings on Sunday you may have wondered why the selectors bothered with risking him in the ODI side. Photo: Samuel Shivambu

If you'd only watched the first 19 balls of Temba Bavuma's innings on Sunday you may have wondered why the selectors bothered with risking him in the ODI side. Photo: Samuel Shivambu

Published Sep 26, 2016

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South Africa 354/5

Ireland 148

South Africa won by 206 runs

If you’d only watched the first 19 balls of Temba Bavuma’s innings on Sunday you may have wondered why the selectors bothered with risking him in the ODI side, and at 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 onto 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 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 as he punished anything remotely offline from a committed though limited Irish attack.

De Kock made 82 off just 66 balls.

“I was able to perform the way I did today because of they 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 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 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. He was dismissed for 113, which were scored off 123 balls (13 fours, one six).

“Your intensity in one-day cricket has to be higher - even when you block the ball, you do it with intent,” he said. “Today I struggled a bit but usually I’m a positive player, looking to put the bad ball away.”

Bavuma’s wicket came amidst a brief wobble, in which the hosts lost three wickets for 46 runs in eight overs 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 a superb all-round contribution from him as he registered his best bowling figures in ODIs - 4/16. The Irish face Australia here tomorrow.

The Star

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