Temba Bavuma made a career-best 179 against Australia in Gqeberha, and he says the method behind it belongs to Sachin Tendulkar. After day three, the South Africa captain said he copies Tendulkar’s technique because he is too small to rely on big strides.
He walked in at 12/2 on a gloomy first day, and South Africa resumed day three on 97/5. When he fell, caught behind off Mitchell Starc, they declared on 425/9 and had Australia 3/1 at stumps, trailing by 422. Australia had won the first Test in Durban by 214 runs.
Tendulkar was Bavuma’s boyhood idol, and as a boy in Langa he was even nicknamed “Sachin”. His size gets joked about in Australia. What it actually buys him against their quicks is time, and that is the part most batters give away.
“I try to emulate my technique to his. I’m obviously not a big guy. I’m not really going to get any big strides in. I try to be efficient in terms of my movement. Sometimes it gets me into trouble. But I think for me, that’s generally what works. I try to play the ball as close to my body as possible.”
Temba Bavuma, after day three of the second Test, 20 October 2026
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma confirms he tried to emulate the proven technique of India great Sachin Tendulkar during his century against Australia in the second #WTC27 contest in Gqeberha 🙌
More 👉 https://t.co/b7ekOgZR30 https://t.co/R5apCAWgjj
— ICC (@ICC) October 21, 2026
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A tall batter can stride out and smother the ball before it does anything. A short batter cannot reach that far, and if he tries, he commits early to a ball that is still moving. Against Scott Boland, who took 5/81 in this innings, that early commitment is exactly how you nick off.
Staying still and letting the ball come to you buys a fraction of a second, and that fraction is the gap between a leave and an edge. That is why his first fifty took 140 balls, almost all leaves and nudges. He was not stuck. He was waiting until he could see the ball clearly, and only then playing it.
How Bavuma’s 179 Turned the Gqeberha Test
Once he was set, the same method let him score faster. His second fifty took 86 balls, and he reached his fifth Test hundred, his first against Australia, with a pull off Pat Cummins.
He added 132 with Marco Jansen for the seventh wicket and 183 with Simon Harmer for the eighth, a South African Test record. His 179 off 334 balls beat his previous best of 172 against West Indies in 2023. It is also the highest score by a South Africa captain against Australia.
“Yeah, definitely one of my better ones… I found myself a lot in those types of situations, coming in early, trying to manage myself to kind of scramble through to a 50 or 60. But I think what was nice was my ability to take it even further and make it count.”
Temba Bavuma, after day three of the second Test, 20 October 2026
The innings answered a bad week. Durban was Bavuma’s first defeat as Test captain, and he did not spare himself afterwards.
“There were a few soft dismissals and that includes me… there’s a certain level of pressure that exists when you play Australia.”
Temba Bavuma, after the first Test defeat in Durban, October 2026
Day four begins today with South Africa pushing for a series-levelling win. Bavuma said the pitch still offers something for the new ball, and Kagiso Rabada, who missed Durban, has already removed Nic Maddinson for a duck. The third Test starts in Cape Town on 27 October.
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