Bavuma 179 lifts South Africa to 425-9 in second Test at Gqeberha

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma scored 179 on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, in Gqeberha to put his side in control of the second Test against Australia. He guided South Africa from 110-6 in the morning session to a declaration of 425-9 and the hosts took an Australian wicket before stumps.

Bavuma said he enjoyed battling against adversity as South Africa responded to their heavy defeat in last week’s first Test. The 36-year-old had been sent in with the hosts 12-2 on Sunday’s rain-restricted opening day, when only an hour's play was possible, and resumed his innings on Monday as the ball moved around after wet weather relented; South Africa had slipped to 97-5 by the close of the second day.

“I walked into a tricky situation,” he told reporters. “I think everything was in the bowlers’ favour: the conditions overhead, the wicket itself. We’d just lost two early wickets, but ‌ordinarily I’ve found myself in those situations quite many times and I guess it seems to bring out the best in me.”

The sun appeared on Tuesday and the pitch flattened out, but Bavuma emphasised the bowling remained challenging. “With the quality of the bowling attack, they're still able to put ⁠you under pressure, even when the ball is slightly softer and older. “I think from a mindset point of view, for me, nothing really changed. I was always ‌just trying to be as tight as I could and try to hit the ball as straight as I could. “The one thing was being able to get the team out of a tough situation. But then from a personal point of view, to go on to getting a big 100, that's obviously something that's been a thorn in my side throughout my career. So it was nice ‌to get over that mental hurdle,” he added.

Bavuma, who has overcome a long-standing elbow injury, surpassed his previous highest Test score and was involved in two record partnerships. He added 132 with Marco Jansen, who scored 85, to set a South African seventh-wicket record at St George’s Park, then put on a national-record 183 for the eighth wicket with number nine Simon Harmer, who made a Test career-best 82.

“They put a heavy price on their ‌wickets and part of our plan was to keep Australia in the field for as long as we could. It all went according to plan,” Bavuma added.

Australia will resume at 3–1 at the start of day four.