Johannesburg – When Morne Morkel edged his first ball to slip on day two of the fourth Test against Australia on Saturday, he screamed in anger.
SCORECARD: Proteas v Australia – 4th Test, Day 2
It wasn’t because he had failed in his final efforts to prove to South Africans that he is, in fact, a batsman.
Instead, Morkel’s rage came from the fact that he had left Temba Bavuma stranded at the other end on 95*
Bavuma couldn’t help but throw his head towards the Johannesburg sky in disbelief.
Chances to score centuries don’t come every day, especially if you’re a No 6 that bats with the lower order more often than not.
Bavuma has just one Test century to his name, and it came all the way back in January 2016 against England at Newlands.
That was a sweet day for South African cricket in general, and there wasn’t a fan at the Wanderers on Saturday who didn’t want to see Bavuma get over the line.
It was not to be.
Keshav Maharaj had smashed his way to 45 and was out chasing a wide one. Getting Bavuma to three figures didn’t seem to be very high on his list of priorities.
Morkel, however, was gutted.
“Morne is very disappointed. He did throw some profanities,” Bavuma recalled after the day’s play.
“I kind of felt for him and it took away the disappointment that I had. You almost had to give him the shoulder to cry on.”
Bavuma added that he could not hold anything against Morkel.
“I would never be cross at Morne or any other batter. I can only look at myself and look back at my innings and maybe there were opportunities that I let go that I could have turned into a 100,” he said.
“In saying that, I’ll take a lot of confidence and comfort from the fact that I was able to assist the team into getting into such a strong batting position.”
Bavuma had played a Test for the first time in 2018 at Newlands last week after first being left out for the start of the India series and then sustaining a hand injury.
He made 1 and 5 in his two innings there and looked extremely undercooked.
This knock will go a long way towards convincing South Africans that he has the ability to hold the Proteas middle order together.
“It’s probably one of the innings that I’ll savour in my career. It wasn’t easy for me, especially having come from having not much cricket,” he said.
“Everyone wants to get a hundred, especially me. It has been a while.
“In saying that, the team was in a good position and I think that’s what mattered most at that point in time.”
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