Cricket-Bavuma battles adversity to put South Africa in control

FILE PHOTO: Cricket - 2025 ICC World Test Championship Final - South Africa v Australia - Lord's Cricket Ground, London, Britain - June 14, 2025 South Africa's Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram walk out of the Lord's Pavilion to mark the beginning of Day 4 Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers/File photo

GQEBERHA, South Africa, Oct 20 (Reuters) - South Africa ⁠captainTemba Bavuma said he enjoyed battling against adversity as he scored 179 on Tuesday to turn around his ⁠side’s fortunes in the second test against Australia and also quell some of his own mental demons.

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.

The 36-year-old Bavuma had been forced to the crease with the hosts ⁠on 12-2 on Sunday’s rain-restricted opening day, when ⁠only an hour's play was possible, and had to resume his innings on Monday as the ball moved around after ⁠the ‌wet weather finally relented. South Africa slumped to 97-5 by the close of the second day.

“I walked into a tricky situation,” he 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."

The sun appeared on Tuesday after ⁠two rain-affected days and ​the pitch flattened out, offering the batters considerably more assistance, although Bavuma insisted conditions were not as easy as they might have seemed.

DEALING WITH AUSTRALIA’S QUALITY ATTACK

“With the quality of the bowling attack, they're still able to put you under pressure, even when the ball ⁠is slightly softer and older.

“I think from a mindset point of ​view, for me, nothing really changed. I was always just trying to be as tight as I could and try to hit the ball as straight as I could.

“The one thing was being able to get the team out of a tough situation. ⁠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. So it was nice to get over that mental hurdle,” he added.

Bavuma, who has overcome a long-standing elbow injury, not only surpassed his previous highest test score but featured in two record ​partnerships.

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.

“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. It all went according to plan,” Bavuma added as Australia will resume at 3–1 at the start of day four.

(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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资料照片：板球 - 2025年国际板球理事会世界测试锦标赛决赛 - 南非对阵澳大利亚 - 英国伦敦，罗德板球场 - 2025年6月14日。南非队的坦巴·巴武马和艾登·马克拉姆走出罗德板球场看台，标志着第四天比赛的开始。（图片来自路透社/安德鲁·博耶斯/资料照片）

南非格伯哈，10 月 20 日（路透社）——南非队长坦巴·巴武马表示，他很享受与逆境抗争的过程。周二，他攻下 179 分，扭转了球队在对阵澳大利亚的第二场测试赛中的颓势，同时也平息了自己的一些心理阴影。

队长展现了顽强的斗志和精湛的击球技巧，帮助南非队在第三天上午的比赛中从110-6的困境中恢复过来，最终以425-9宣布结束比赛，并在比赛结束前拿下澳大利亚队的一个出局，这是对上周首场测试赛惨败的有力回应。

36岁的巴武马在周日因雨缩短赛程的首日比赛中被迫上场，当时东道主南非队以12比2落后，比赛仅进行了一个小时。周一雨势终于减弱，球路变得不稳定，巴武马不得不继续他的击球。第二天比赛结束时，南非队以97比5落后。

“我当时处境很棘手，”他告诉记者。“我觉得一切都对投球手有利，无论是天气状况、场地条件，还是我们开局就丢了两个球门，但通常情况下，我经常会遇到这种情况，我想这似乎能激发我最好的状态。”

周二，在经历了两天的降雨后，太阳出来了，球场也变得平坦，为击球手提供了更大的帮助，尽管巴武马坚称，实际情况并不像看起来那么容易。

应对澳大利亚的质量攻击

“凭借他们优秀的投球实力，即使球稍微软一些、旧一些，他们仍然能够给你施加压力。

“从心态上来说，我觉得并没有什么真正的改变。我一直都只是尽力保持身体的稳定，尽力把球打直。”

“最重要的是能够带领球队走出困境。但从个人角度来说，要拿下100分，这显然是我整个职业生涯中一直耿耿于怀的事情。所以，能够克服这个心理障碍真是太好了，”他补充道。

巴武马克服了长期肘伤，不仅超越了他之前的最高测试分数，还参与了两项破纪录的搭档合作。

他与马尔科·詹森（Marco Jansen）合力拿下 132 分（詹森得 85 分），在圣乔治公园创造了南非第七个三柱门得分纪录；随后，他又与第九号球员西蒙·哈默（Simon Harmer）合作，为第八个三柱门拿下 183 分，创造了国家纪录。哈默在测试赛中取得了职业生涯最佳成绩 82 分。

“他们非常重视自己的出局，而我们的计划之一就是尽可能长时间地让澳大利亚队留在场上。一切都按计划进行，”巴武马补充道。澳大利亚队将在第四天开始时以3-1领先。

（马克·格里森报道；普里塔·萨卡尔编辑）

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