Ken Borland

Temba Bavuma said on Tuesday that putting aside the emotion and focusing on the situation in the present helped him cope with the heavy pressures of leading the Proteas at the T20 World Cup.

The relatively new South African white-ball captain has drawn widespread praise for his handling of the usual off-field issues that plagued the team as well as his deft hand on the field as the Proteas exceeded expectations by just missing out on the semifinals on nett run-rate, despite winning four of their five group games.

“There’s always some type of pressure around me and I’ve learnt ways to deal with it. I put aside the emotion and deal with the issue at hand,” Bavuma said.

“The Quinton de Kock situation all happened quite quickly and there wasn’t really any time to consult anyone. I had to weigh up both sides and express an opinion.

“Sometimes it’s best when you don’t have too much time to think about things, you just speak to the merits of the matter at hand and that means you’ll be more authentic.

“It was always going to be a big responsibility to be captain and the pressure and expectation at a World Cup comes from all angles. But I have seen a shift in the energy and I sense that the backing and support for me is now there,” Bavuma said.

The skipper acknowledged that all the off-field noise surrounding the Proteas does eat the players up inside, but in a classic case of make-or-break, he said it strengthened the bond between the players, which was expressed in their never-say-die performances on the field.

“Matters off the field have put us under pressure, they have been challenging times but we have been able to get through them as a team. There were moments that could have broken us or pulled us together, and it turned out being more of the latter.

“I was put in a situation that was very hard to prepare for and I’m grateful that I got out of there. I now have a lot more confidence with the team in terms of trust and backing.

“I do believe we are in a better space as a team. We found a way to get together as a team and really fought for each other. That gave us the ability to play in those pressure moments, we did exceptionally well in those.

“There have been massive positives from this World Cup, even though we are now sitting at home watching on our screens, and we need to make sure we grow from strength-to-strength,” Bavuma said.

Pieter Malan showed he is obviously still one of the best opening batsmen in the country when he batted the Boland Rocks through to the safety of a draw in their CSA 4-Day Domestic Series match against Western Province in Paarl on Monday.

Malan batted through the 119 over innings to score an extremely disciplined 117 not out off 349 balls to deny Western Province on the final day. Boland, who were 177 runs behind on first innings, began the final day on 106 without loss, still trailing by 71.

But Isma-eel Gafieldien was only able to add one run to his overnight score of 60 before he was trapped lbw by left-arm paceman Wayne Parnell.

Left-arm spinner Kyle Simmonds (45-16-81-3) then really raised Western Province’s hopes for a victory with a three-wicket burst that left Boland on 178/4.

But Malan found an able partner in the in-form Ferisco Adams, who scored 50 not out as the pair stayed together for 30 overs to secure the draw with Boland closing on 269/4.

The other match that went into the fourth day, between the Northerns Titans and the KZN Dolphins at SuperSport Park, was also drawn after the final day was washed out by rain.

Northerns, trailing by nine runs on the first innings, were left on the overnight score of 125/1 in the second innings.

Temba Bavuma’s outstanding leadership – sensitive to the unity of the team but also decisive and intuitive – at the T20 World Cup has shown that he is the man to lead the Proteas in the next edition of the tournament which will be held in less than a year’s time in Australia.

To have such a strong, inspirational captain is a massive positive for South African cricket, and Bavuma also batted with trademark tenacity in tough conditions, averaging 30 for the tournament. He will want to work on his strike-rate of 108, but that was higher than Quinton de Kock’s!

The T20 World Cup in Australia should be a high-scoring affair and South Africa’s batting will need to become more attacking. Knowing Bavuma, whose overall strike-rate in T20s is 125, he will be working very hard on that aspect of his game in the interim.

But with the huge strides made by Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen, plus the continued reliability of David Miller as a finisher, Bavuma is likely to need to move up the order and open the batting with Quinton de Kock, who remains South Africa’s most dangerous T20 batsman.

But the way Markram has transformed into a boundary-clearing finisher, as well as still being able to play the building and changing gears role like Van der Dussen has done so well, is another huge positive for the Proteas.

South Africa’s bowling attack continued to perform as an outstanding unit in the UAE. They have a variety of skills to cover a pretty catholic range of conditions.

Anrich Nortje, who tormented batsmen with both his sheer pace and great control, and Kagiso Rabada are a fearsome pair of fast bowlers, with Lungi Ngidi waiting in the wings.

South Africa’s spin-bowling strength, led by Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj, has been the defining force of their great run in T20 cricket – their win over No.1 side England means they have won 13 of their last 15 matches.

Dwaine Pretorius, who took nine wickets and conceded just 6.88 runs-per-over bowling mostly at the death, has shown he is a cool and wily cat, and Wiaan Mulder is waiting in the wings with a package of all-round skills that might just be better suited to Australian conditions.

In terms of depth, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks and Heinrich Klaasen were also part of the squad in the UAE and they have all shown the ability to shine at international level. Add George Linde and Andile Phehlukwayo to that list and it is clear there is quality back-up in most positions.

Of course coach Mark Boucher would love some more players to put in consistently dominant performances at domestic level to add to that depth.

But there are a whole lot of reasons to feel hopeful about the future of this Proteas team and fans should be licking their lips in anticipation of their further development.

The Central Gauteng Lions celebrated their second successive win in the CSA Four-Day Domestic Series with a thumping innings victory in just three days over the Eastern Province Warriors at St George’s Park on Sunday.

The hosts were left contemplating a dismal batting performance that saw them bowled out for just 54 on Sunday, to go with their paltry 96 in the first innings.

It meant the Lions’ first innings total of 170 was enough for an innings-and-20-run win.

Paceman Sisanda Magala was the hero on Sunday with 6/30 in 13 overs on his former home ground.

The Free State Knights attack was also dominant in Potchefstroom as they bowled out the North-West Dragons for 197, leaving them with just 17 runs to get for a 10-wicket win.

North-West were forced to follow-on after Mbulelo Budaza’s 4/64 saw them dismissed for 237 in their first innings, Patrick Kruger also taking 3/12 with the ball to follow up his blazing 192* with the bat.

Young Gerald Coetzee was the chief destroyer in the second innings with 4/47.

The Western Cape derby in Paarl saw Western Province take a big 177-run lead on the first innings as opener Tony de Zorzi (129) and Zubayr Hamza (94) added 170 for the second wicket to lay the platform for their total of 444.

A solid batting display saw Kyle Verreynne and Aviwe Mgijima score 40s and Mihlali Mpongwana and Yves Kamanzi put on 53 for the last wicket.

The Boland opening pair of Isma-eel Gafieldien (60*) and Pieter Malan (41*) did well to get the deficit down to 71 with their unbeaten stand of 106 before the close of play.

A slow pitch at SuperSport Park did not make for the most adorable cricket as the KZN Dolphins piled up 433 all out to lead the Northerns Titans by nine runs after the first innings.

Opener Sarel Erwee was patience personified as he batted for 370 balls in scoring 163, sharing valuable partnerships with Bryce Parsons (78), Keegan Petersen (41) and Jason Smith (59).

Off-spinner Simon Harmer came into the game well in the afternoon, taking 4/106, with paceman Corbin Bosch getting three wickets.

Northerns openers Grant Mokoena (58) and Neil Brand (58*) played some gorgeous strokes as they put on 125 for the first wicket.

A great catch by Kerwin Mungroo at backward point off Daryn Dupavillon removed Mokoena five balls before bad light stopped play with the Titans on 126/1, leading by 117.