Ken Borland

October has not been a great month for Proteas captain Temba Bavuma as he has scored just 11 runs in three innings and has been battling with illness. But he has to now lead by example and not only score brisk runs up front but also steer his team through a massive last week of the month in which they play Zimbabwe on Monday, followed by Bangladesh (Thursday) and India (Sunday).

Bavuma has been knocked over in the first powerplay in five of his seven T20 Internationals this year, so there will be plenty on his mind as he opens the batting in what could well be seamer-friendly conditions in Hobart on Monday. He admitted that there are a few “conversations in his head”, but one thing we do know about Bavuma is that he is a tremendously tenacious character and he will be fighting hard at the Bellerive Oval.

“I feel good, I’ve gotten over that sickness in India and I’ve had a couple of net sessions,” Bavuma said on Sunday. “The pressure is not unique to me, all international players have to deal with it.

“Yes, as captain, it is a lot more blown up, all eyes are on you and there’s a lot more critique of your performance and how you lead. It comes with the responsibility, and I won’t shy away from it.

“I will face up to it as honourably and with as much gratitude as I can. I’m aware of the conversations in my head regarding my game and how I’m going to lead.

“But I’m not aware of any outside conversations, those are not discussed within the team. Our focus is on knowing what we want to do and how to do it, anything else is for other ears.” The only selection issues then, with the dominating Reeza Hendricks out in the cold, will be whether South Africa play two spinners or one, and whether their all-rounder will be Wayne Parnell or Marco Jansen.

The Proteas, ranked fourth in T20s to Zimbabwe’s 11^th and Bangladesh’s ninth, will go into their first two World Cup matches as favourites. They learned from last year’s event, in which they lost just one match but were edged out of the semi-finals on nett run-rate, that once they get the upperhand, there can be no hesitation in ruthlessly going for the jugular.

“Our biggest takeway from the previous World Cup was that every game matters, you have to perform as well as you can in every match, and make sure you keep the pulse of the run-rate,” Bavuma admitted.

“If you have the opportunity to win really well then you have to make sure you take it. We’ll be looking to execute as well as we can against Zimbabwe. There’s no time to ease into the tournament, it is so important to start well.

“It’s going to be challenging up front against the new ball, with the bowlers targeting off-stump. We have to be circumspect but obviously with the right intensity to put pressure on the bowlers,” Bavuma said.

Marco Jansen scored precious runs and took vital wickets to keep South Africa with a fingerhold on the game on the third day of the third Test against England at The Oval on Saturday.

Jansen top-scored with 30 in a dismal South African first innings of just 118 after they lost the toss and were sent in to bat on the first morning, but never got to the crease thanks to rain washing out the entire first day’s play and then the second day being cancelled as a mark of respect for the passing of the United Kingdom’s beloved Queen Elizabeth II.

The beanpole 22-year-old then bowled superbly to take 4/34 in 11 overs as England went to stumps on 154/7, leading by 36 runs. They were 84/2 at tea though, and Jansen’s left-arm pace, with handy late swing, inspired the Proteas to bowl themselves back into the contest.

He had earlier batted with defiant assurance after coming to the crease at a parlous 36/6. The fact that South Africa reached three figures was almost entirely due to the seventh-wicket partnership of 36 between Jansen and Khaya Zondo, who also resisted stoutly with 23 in more than an hour-and-a-half in his debut Test innings.

It was a crucial toss for England to win when play eventually got underway on the third morning under heavily overcast skies, with the England seamers getting precious movement off the pitch. But they bowled superbly, with outstanding accuracy, to get the most out of the conditions.

Ollie Robinson, consistently zeroing in on off-stump and moving the ball both ways, led the way with 5/49 in 14 overs, while Stuart Broad wrapped up the last bits of resistance with 4/41 in a superb display by the England pacemen.

Ollie Pope, one of The Oval’s favourite sons when playing for Surrey, batted with great positivity to score 67 off 77 balls and led England into a first-innings lead as, Jansen apart, the South African bowlers were poor at the start, bowling too short, too straight and too wide too often. But in the clatter of wickets after tea, Pope should have changed gear and tried to stick around, ensuring the Proteas were batted properly out of the game.

England captain Ben Stokes was even more at fault, falling for just 6 to Anrich Nortje as he played several wildly attacking strokes in the nine deliveries he faced.

Ben Foakes is the last remaining recognised batsman on 11 not out.

South Africa will still pay for their failure to bat for more than just 36.2 overs, but they will hope to limit the first-innings deficit to something around 50. They will also be hoping they come out to bat for the second innings with the sun shining.

There is no sense of inertia among South Africa’s batsmen, they know they have to contribute more and bigger runs when the decisive third Test against England starts at The Oval on Thursday, Keegan Petersen said on Tuesday.

The hundreds scored by Sarel Erwee and Kyle Verreynne in New Zealand are the only centuries scored by the Proteas this year, while only Petersen and the injured Temba Bavuma average over 40 in 2022.

“Quite obviously we need to score more hundreds, our batsmen haven’t been there for a while and the lower-order has had to save us,” Petersen said on Tuesday.

“It’s time for us to step it up now and get big scores. It’s just mental, nothing else, we’re getting starts, we’re getting in but just not going on.

“Both Tests were lost in the first innings. Conditions did lean towards the bowlers, it gave them the advantage, but if we can play the first innings better then we should be the team that comes out on top.

“We would love to play for five days for once, but there’s a lot on the line and even if it is another low-scoring match, I think it’s going to be a good game,” Petersen said.

While the media talk around the South African team tends to veer towards their lack of Test cricket in the new FTP, despite them currently being in line to play in the World Test Championship final, Petersen said the Proteas will not err by focusing on anything other than the decisive final Test of the series against England.

“It hurt to get beat like that in the second Test, but we’ve had some time away from the game now. We’re not thinking about the World Test Championship final, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.

“Our focus is only on the next Test, there’s a lot at stake and hopefully we can turn things around from Manchester. We don’t feel the pressure to make any statements in that way, about our Test future.

“We’re just trying to prepare for whatever situations we will face out in the middle, we know it will be tough.

“Personally, kicking on is the problem right now, and I’m still trying to figure out what to do. I’m trying to get to triple figures and hopefully it will happen soon,” Petersen said.

South Africa lost the plot in the afternoon and found themselves in desperate trouble after the second day of the second Test against England at Old Trafford on Friday, needing 241 more runs just to make the hosts bat again.

Openers Sarel Erwee (12*) and Dean Elgar (11*) will resume in the morning on 23 without loss but the skipper will not only be contemplating the massive mountain in front of his team, but also his own decision-making in the field.

England amassed 415/9 declared in their first innings thanks to inspired centuries by captain Ben Stokes and wicketkeeper Ben Foakes, who added a match-defining 173 for the sixth wicket.

They came together in an intriguing morning session in which fast bowler Anrich Nortje made two early inroads into the England batting by dismissing Jonny Bairstow (49) and Zak Crawley (38), both edging excellent deliveries that angled in and then nipped away to be caught behind the wicket.

That left England on 147/5 and South Africa were still four runs ahead. But Stokes and Foakes batted with great clarity and composure, digging in until the hosts went into lunch on 212/5.

With the lead now already 61, one imagined the talk in the South African dressingroom over lunch would have been all about hitting England hard straight after the break to try and get the tail in to bat as soon as possible.

But incredibly, the on-fire Nortje was not brought on until after spinners Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj had bowled for 35 minutes, allowing Stokes and Foakes to get themselves properly in at the crease.

Having established control, Stokes and Foakes then batted with more freedom as the Proteas became more and more desperate shopping for a breakthrough, four reviews not going their way.

Stokes went to his fourth century in 14 Tests against South Africa, but fell for 103 as he tried to slog Kagiso Rabada. One of the most competitive cricketers in the world had produced a masterclass in playing the situation, his judgement of when to attack and when to defend solidly being well-nigh perfect.

Foakes batted on for his second Test century and ended with a career-best 113 not out, a determined innings of great value for his team, in which he targeted his favoured leg-side with nifty footwork and fine shots, collecting nine fours.

Nortje’s bowling – he finished with 3/82 in 20 overs – and the fact that England were unable to buy a wicket in the nine overs they bowled at South Africa before stumps, were about the only positives for the Proteas on a second day that somehow managed to be worse than their opening day woes.