GQEBERHA, South Africa : South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said challenging situations brought out his best after his superb 179 helped the hosts recover from a precarious position on the third day of the second Test against Australia on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old produced a captain’s innings as South Africa recovered from 110-6 in the morning session to declare on 425-9 before claiming an Australian wicket ahead of stumps.
The turnaround marked a strong response from the hosts following their heavy defeat in the opening Test of the three-match series last week.
Bavuma had walked to the crease with South Africa struggling at 12-2 on Sunday’s rain-affected opening day, when only an hour of play was possible.
He continued to battle difficult batting conditions on Monday as Australia exploited movement from the pitch, reducing the hosts to 97-5 by the close.
“I walked into a tricky situation,” Bavuma told reporters.
“I think everything was in the bowlers’ favour, the conditions overhead, the wicket itself, we’d just lost two early wickets, but ordinarily I’ve found myself in those situations quite a number of times and I guess it seems to bring out the best in me.”
Conditions improved on Tuesday as sunshine replaced the rain and the pitch became more favourable for batting.
However, Bavuma insisted the conditions remained challenging despite South Africa’s remarkable recovery, which put them in a strong position to level the series.
