Bavuma ready for barrage from ‘scary’ Starc and Co
Temba Bavuma had to face a barrage of verbal “abuse” from Ben Stokes at Newlands last summer, but he had the last laugh in the end.
|||Temba Bavuma had to face a barrage of verbal “abuse” from Ben Stokes at Newlands last summer, but he had the last laugh in the end in scoring his maiden Test hundred.
And now, judging from the desperate jousting coming out of the Australian camp this week, Bavuma and his fellow Proteas batsmen can expect more of the same when the first Test starts at the Waca in Perth on Thursday.
Bavuma’s tiny frame makes him an easy target for the likes of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Peter Siddle, but the 26-year-old Lions right-hander is made of sterner stuff.
On Tuesday at a press conference in Perth, Australian opener David Warner added to the bluster by saying that he was happy to have not faced left-arm pace spearhead Starc in the spicy Waca nets this week as it’s the “scariest thing on the calendar”.
Starc has been an under an injury cloud over the last few weeks due to a gash on his left lower leg, but seemingly proved his fitness in training this week. The 26-year-old bowled a delivery at over 160km/h in the corresponding Test last season against New Zealand on what was a batting paradise of a pitch that lacked the real characteristics of a Perth wicket of serious pace and bounce.
“If we go back 12 months and see what he delivered out here, if there’s a bit more pace in the wicket (on Thursday), it could be even scarier,” Warner blurted out, according to the cricket.com.au website.
Bavuma, though, feels he is equipped for any bouncer barrage. “Judging by the nets, it’s quite similar to the Wanderers, and I’m looking forward to the challenge, everything about it,” he said. “We’ve been knuckling down on our game plan and tactics, and looking forward to the game.”
With openers Dean Elgar and Stephen Cook not amongst the runs in the two warm-up games, a lot will depend on Hashim Amla and stand-in captain Faf du Plessis to make the big runs in this series.
But Bavuma will have a critical role to play in the middle-order along with JP Duminy, and he feels that he can bat according to the situation in the game. He has scored two hundreds in limited-overs cricket this year for South Africa and the Titans, and is confident that he can take on the Australian attack.
One of the main goals for the former Langa Cricket Club protégé will be to push his Test average above 40 on this trip, as he currently stands on 39.75 in 11 Tests.
He doesn’t feel overawed by any public expectations, though, and believes that the Proteas’ seven-batsmen policy should be continued. “It’s a pressure that I’ve tried to embrace, take it in my stride. And personally, to try to better my performance from last season. Where I bat in the middle-order, we have to bat according to the situation. There will be times when I have to take the fight to the opposition,” Bavuma said.
“Having a guy like Quinny (de Kock) at the back-end strengthens that batting order. Quinny can bat anywhere, so there is no reason to change something that is working.”
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