‘My mind cleared’: Confident Captain Bavuma is back to his best

Transformed into shape this year Proteus Captain Temba Bavuma says he gains confidence with every hard punch he throws in the middle.

Although he was forced to score points after struggling to find his best form, Bavuma bounced back after spending a century in South Africa team A 2-1 ODI series win over England last month, and earlier this month he made another tonne in the third and final Test against the West Indies.

And he put in one of the best performances of his career on Saturday, smashing 144 runs in his second ODI against the West Indies in East London.

It wasn’t enough to get his team over the line, with the tourists winning a landslide victory in 48 runs, but Bavuma was happy to build on his impressive form.

“I think my mind has become much clearer about what we are trying to do and how we are trying to do it,” the skipper said.

“I feed on the confidence I get from players and new managers and I just enjoy my cricket.”

Real Confidence

Bavuma landed some spectacular shots, showing real confidence, throwing punches and punches and scoring a career-best ODI record.

“I’m just trying to keep the form and momentum that I got in the England series and at the moment I’m pretty good at hitting the ball and managing to find gaps, which is definitely important for me as a player.” He said.

“I can only hope that things continue as they are.”

With some senior players missing due to injury and illness, there were four debutants on the Proteas team, and although the hosts failed to hit the 336-run goal set by the tourists, Bavuma was delighted to be able to provide so many opportunities. for younger players, including fast bowler George Coetzee and batters Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs and Ryan Rickelton.

Bavuma was especially impressed with Coetzee, who took 3/57 to lead the Proteas on a wicket that offered little movement or rebound, and De Zorzi, who made 27 runs after joining the skipper at center when the hosts were under real pressure .

Rickelton (age 14) and Stubbs (age 6) found it difficult to get started, but they too would benefit from the experience.

‘Learning Curve’

“I think the guys had a lot to learn, and we hope that they will continue to receive such opportunities in order to continue to grow,” he said.

“There is no other place to learn international cricket than to play international cricket.”

With the first match of the series going ballless, the best the Proteas can hope for is a series draw against the Windies.

The third and final ODI will be played at the Potchefstroom on Tuesday starting at 10:00 am.