Temba Bavuma is making every effort to be match-fit for Thursday’s semi-final clash against Australia at the Eden.
The South Africa captain, who has been trying to recover from the hamstring strain sustained during the Afghanistan game in Lucknow, batted at nets for more than an hour during the Proteas’ optional practice session at the Eden on Tuesday evening.
Taking part with the rest of the squad in a brief round of football at the start of the practice session, Bavuma then had short laps of the ground before going into the nets and facing net bowlers along with some part-time off-spin from Aiden Markram as well as throwdowns from a Proteas support staff member.
On Monday too, the Proteas skipper had batted at nets for quite some time, but with a stump. On Tuesday, however, he straightaway took the bat in hand for his nets session lasting more than an hour.
‘Not undroppable’
With just 145 runs from seven innings so far, Bavuma’s form in this World Cup has been wretched to say the least. The team certainly backs Bavuma to come good, but he isn’t undroppable, head coach Rob Walter stated.
Different scenarios during the practice session of the South Africa team at Eden Gardens on Tuesday, November 14, 2023, during the ICC World Cup 2023. Picture by Sanat Kr Sinha
“He hasn’t scored the runs he would have wanted to, but in every training and every innings, he looks like he’s close. A good score is just around the corner for him.
“Now as far as being undroppable, nobody is bigger than the team. The same goes for everyone,” Walter told the South African media.
Maharaj factor
Facing left-arm spinners formed a major part of Australia’s training session earlier in the day. The likes of Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne first dealt with their spin consultant and former New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori before playing three net bowlers, who bowled left-arm spin.
That was obviously to be prepared as much as possible against Proteas left-arm tweaker Keshav Maharaj, who could be more than a handful on this Eden surface which looks dry.
