Proteas captain Temba Bavuma smashed his second Test century to power the Proteas into a winning position on the third day of the second Test against the West Indies on Saturday afternoon.
Bavuma reached his century in style in the final session of the day, smashing a wide delivery from Alzarri Joseph over cover for four, with the Proteas well in charge at 185/5, holding an overall lead of 254 over the Windies.
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Bavuma is known as almost a man and has faced criticism in the past for not being able to convert good scores, with him having scored just one century along with 20 half-centuries in 95 innings before this match.
Wiaan Mulder (30 not out) played an integral role in helping Bavuma reach the milestone, after he came to the crease with the Proteas in a bit of trouble at 103/5 after lunch, and helped the captain as he showed in an 82-run unbeaten stand. .
The two batters will now look to cash in, in the late afternoon and try to get enough of a lead that they can put the Windies into bat before closing the game.
early obstacles
At the start of the game, the Proteas started the day with an overall lead of 73 and at 4/0 in the second innings, with Dean Elgar (5) and Aiden Markram (18) at the crease, but they were soon in early trouble after three. quick wickets.
Kyle Mayers had Elgar caught at gully by Roston Chase and then bowled Tony de Zorzi (1) from the inside corner after the batter seemed unsure whether to play or leave.
The in-form Markram then edged Kemar Roach to keeper Joshua da Silva, leaving the Proteas in trouble at 32/3.
Bavuma and Ryan Rickelton (10) tried to take the safe side for lunch with a 37-run stand, only for Rickelton to chase a wide delivery from Raymon Reifer and the edge to the goalkeeper, leaving Bavuma unbeaten on 35 at the break and the Proteas. 69/4.
In the post-lunch session Bavuma was joined by Heinrich Klaasen (14) and they combined for a 34-run fifth wicket partnership before Klaasen tried to pull a short ball from Alzarri Joseph, only to get a wide top edge, with keeper Da Silva walking. around to the leg side and take a good catch.
This brought Mulder and together with Bavuma they beat the Proteas to a position of dominance.