South Africa showed grit and determination at the start of day two in the World Test Championship final against Australia, recovering from a dire overnight position but suffering the key loss of captain Temba Bavuma shortly before lunch. The Proteas went into the break on 121-5, still trailing by 91 runs.
Resuming on a precarious 43-4 in response to Australia’s first-innings total of 212, the South African top order had been decimated by the Australian pace attack late on Wednesday. However, hopes of another collapse were thwarted on Thursday morning as Bavuma and David Bedingham counter-attacked with a spirited 64-run partnership.
Bavuma, who played positively and struck the first six of the match, was eventually dismissed for 36 after driving into the covers, where a diving Marnus Labuschagne took a sharp catch off the bowling of Pat Cummins. The Australian captain finished the session with impressive figures of 2-24 from 14 overs.
Earlier in his innings, Bavuma had survived a close lbw appeal from Josh Hazlewood while on 17. Though initially hesitant to review the on-field decision, the snickometer confirmed a faint inside edge, overturning the umpire’s call.
Bedingham stood firm on 39 not out at the interval, having struck two boundaries in the final over before the break. He was joined by Kyle Verreynne, unbeaten on 11, who had an early scare when he edged a delivery from Beau Webster just short of the slips.
In stark contrast to the nervy approach displayed on Wednesday, South Africa’s batting on the second morning carried more intent. Nonetheless, scoring remained slow, with the side only reaching triple figures in the 45th over.