How SA can win the first Test – Temba Bavuma

South Africa have been left with one of those awkward little targets of 149 on a testing pitch in order to win the first Test against Pakistan at Centurion tomorrow, and first-innings top-scorer Temba Bavuma reckons they will be compelled to bat positively in order to win.

Bavuma’s fluent 53, featuring nine beautiful boundaries, was vital in eking out a 42-run first-innings lead for South Africa, with the pacemen, led by Duanne Olivier, who took five for 59 to finish with 11 wickets in the match, and Kagiso Rabada (three for 47), then bowling very well to take nine wickets in the final session and send Pakistan crashing from 101 for one to 190 all out.

“The first 15-20 overs of the chase will be key, we need to be as positive as we can be, we need to assert ourselves. Pakistan have a very good bowling attack so it won’t be easy, but if we can dominate up front then we make it much easier. When the bad ball comes you need to be in a good, strong position to put it away. You need to always look to score on this pitch.

“But you need a good defence on this pitch as well if the bowler bowls a good ball. I just tried to be positive and take everything in my stride because I had a tricky preparation with my hamstring injury. It was very challenging out there but I enjoyed it, it’s a tricky pitch and at no stage did I feel in, you can get out at any time,” Bavuma said.

Bavuma, who was batting at the start of the day on 38, was sporting enough to acknowledge that batting became trickier as the day progressed, with the pitch speeding up as the sun baked it on another sweltering day in Centurion.

“The pitch was a bit slower today at first, so even though there was still nip, you had time to adjust. But it quickened up in the late afternoon and then it became really tricky, so even though Pakistan were 100 for one, we always felt in the game and we just made sure we kept our intensity high. You had to have good plans and show a lot of patience.

“Batting in South Africa is difficult and Pakistan haven’t played a lot here on these bowler-friendly pitches. But the more they play, the more they will be able to formulate game-plans. I’m sure their batsmen are going to gear up for the challenge and get better. So when the opportunities come, we have to make sure we break though,” Bavuma said. – Centurion

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