Temba breaks the gloom with a ton to fall in love to

The St George's Park brass band had been unusually quiet. The 15-piece orchestra, their tunes providing the second Test's soundtrack, had not returned from lunch.

In the middle, Temba Bavuma had been 91 not out for several overs. With new batter Simon Harmer taking most of the strike, Bavuma's hunt for his fifth Test ton had stalled.

But in the early-afternoon sunshine, the band broke the silence with Elvis Presley's 'Can't Help Falling In Love' at the start of a new Mitch Starc over. It took their much-loved captain most of the way to his first hundred against Australia.

Bavuma's crisp pulled four off Pat Cummins was not even the best shot he had played off his counterpart in this innings. A day earlier, he hooked Cummins into the carpark, the ball bouncing out of the ground.

But this one was the icing on the cake of what is surely Bavuma's finest knock at Test level, coming in challenging conditions against a relentless bowling attack.

The determination was writ-large on Bavuma's face as he celebrated with helmet and bat aloft. Non-striker Harmer punched the air in celebration, but his skipper's face did not betray even a grin.

"When you play at St George’s (Park), you definitely hear the band," Bavuma said in his post-match press conference.

"It can fire you up. They created a little bit of theatre when I got into the 90s. It probably got the better of me at certain times."

And Harmer's congratulatory message? "Well played, shorty," Bavuma recalled with an overdue smile.  

It was his slowest Test ton, coming off 226 balls. But that was exactly according to plan.

He outlined before the match that he wanted his batters to be more "ruthless". Before saluting in what had become friendly batting conditions, he'd had to endure through a pair of truncated, on-again, off-again days in overcast conditions to give himself the opportunity to do so.

"Us being a lot more ruthless in how we execute," Bavuma said pre-Test when asked what he expected from his batting group. "And more importantly, when the opportunity is there to go and do something big for the team (to do so)."

Bavuma's leave percentage had been as high as 30 per cent midway through the first session on day three, a larger share than any other batter this series.

As Scott Boland drew Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham and Ryan Rickelton into shots they could have left, Bavuma remained steadfast, rarely tempted by the relentless accuracy of Australia's Boland-led all-seam attack.

"Leaving the ball is important and Temba has done that really well," assistant coach Ashwell Prince said after play on day two. 

"A big, positive part in Temba's play was decision making. There tends to be a lot of discussion about technique and technical things but I think decision making from him was exceptional."

With a performance like that, it's no wonder South Africans can't help falling in love with Bavuma.

Qantas tour of South Africa 2026

All matches to be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Kayo and Fox Cricket

First Test: Australia won by 214 runs

Second Test: October 18-22, St George's Park, Gqeberha, 7pm AEDT (10am local)

Third Test: October 27-31, Newlands, Cape Town, 7:30pm AEDT (10:30am local)

South Africa squad for second Test: Temba Bavuma (c), Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Matthew Breetzke, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne.

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Sam Harper, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (second Test onwards), Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nic Maddinson, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster