South Africa national cricket team captain Temba Bavuma led his team to a historic victory over the Indian national cricket team in the opening match of the Test series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Temba Bavuma led the Proteas from the front and helped the team register their first Test win in India in 15 years as South Africa won by 30 runs at the prestigious venue.
Fortunately, things are working out quite well – Temba Bavuma
Being the home team, India entered the match against the Proteas as favourites. However, they suffered an embarrassing defeat due to poor performance with the bat.
The Eden Gardens pitch became a big topic of discussion as it was helping the spinners a lot from day one and eventually the match ended in two and a half days as India was unable to chase 124 runs.
Temba Bavuma, who scored the only half-century in the match, said during the post-match presentation ceremony that they were fortunate enough to win the match. He said:
“Very exciting. You want to be a part of those types of games and obviously want to be on the right side of the result. I think we tried to hold our position as much as we could. We knew it was going to be tough right off the bat, it was tough for us, but we needed to take advantage of what we had there. I think we did that beautifully. Luckily things worked out quite well.”
Our bowlers brought us back into the game – Temba Bavuma
Temba Bavuma credited the South African bowlers for getting the visitors back into the game and said:
“Our bowlers got us back into the game, but with Bosch, I think also with Marco, the partnerships at the end of the day gave a little bit of encouragement that we could play a little bit better this morning. It wasn’t as extreme, but we managed to have partnerships. We tried to stay in the game as much as we could. It’s not every time you score 120-125 and you think that’s a winning score. It was just a case of staying in the game. And to keep the faith.”
Temba Bavuma also spoke in detail about his batting technique and how it helped him succeed in difficult batting conditions. He elaborated:
“You are really only as good as your players. Some bad stats, I give it to the players. From a batting point of view, I am just comfortable with myself, my technique, not having to worry about triggering and those types of things. I have a good understanding of the game. I have come here to do well in India. I don’t have a great record when it comes to these conditions.
“So it’s a bit of encouragement from my side to keep myself learning from these situations and implementing all the little things that I’m trying to do and keep contributing to the team. Opening up the leg a bit (helped in the second innings). The way I played it, it was just an awareness. Luckily, I’ve played a few innings, so I understand you need to make some adjustments. And luck, we all need luck.”
It was not easy – Temba Bavuma was caught to dismiss Axar Patel
The turning point of the match on the second day was when Akshar Patel was out while batting brilliantly in the middle. In the 36th over, he hit a four and two sixes off Keshav Maharaj, but was then out on the fifth ball as Temba Bavuma took a brilliant catch while running backwards.
Talking about the catch, Temba Bavuma said that it was not easy at all and he was lucky to catch the ball with his small hands. He said:
“(On the catch to dismiss Axar) It was not easy. I’m just glad I put a hand in it. Again, the key moment. Axar, he had pace and we know how Indian batsmen play. When they have pace, they play even more loudly. So fortunately, he was able to make a mistake. I was able to catch him with my short hands. These are the moments you want to be a part of. You don’t want to give it to someone else. You want to do that. “Doing it for the team.”
Also read: India registered a historic decline under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir, made the worst batting record ever after the defeat in Kolkata Test.
