Temba Bavuma owns the fourth-highest average in ODIs: Key stats
Albeit in a losing cause, Temba Bavuma played a captain's knock in the recently-concluded opening ODI against Australia in Bloemfontein on Thursday (September 7). The South African skipper fought a lone battle and returned unbeaten on 114 off 142 balls (14 fours, 1 six). Meanwhile, Bavuma now has the fourth-highest average in ODIs (only full-member team players). Here are his stats.
A defiant knock from Bavuma
South Africa had a sluggish start after Australia them into bat. The SA skipper had a slow start, but he firmly held his end as the others kept on departing. At one stage, SA were 100/5, and they were tottering on 182/8 eventually. Bavuma added 57 runs with Marco Jansen. The former finally accelerated and reached his century off 136 balls.
Bavuma was the lone warrior
Jansen (32) was the only other SA batter besides Bavuma to score over 20. A look at South Africa's fall of wickets: 19-1, 33-2, 70-3, 97-4, 100-5, 157-6, 168-7, 182-8, 185-9, and 222-10. Notably, the other 10 batters racked up just 89 runs combined off 153 balls. SA eventually managed 222 in 49 overs. Australia, however, won the thrilling duel by three wickets.
13th player to carry the bat in ODIs
As per Kausthub Gudipati, Bavuma became only the 13th player to carry the bat in ODI cricket. The first 10 players in this regard are all non-captains, while the next three are skippers (Upul Tharanga, Dimuth Karunaratne, and Bavuma).
Fourth-highest average in ODIs
Bavuma's current ODI average of 57.45 is the fourth-highest among full-member team players with at least 1,000 runs in the format. He is behind India's Shubman Gill (63.08), Pakistan's Babar Azam (59.01), and compatriot Rassie van der Dussen (58.83) in this regard. Notably, Bavuma managed scores worth 0, 35, and 0 in the preceding T20I series against the Aussies.
Fifth ODI century for Bavuma
This was Bavuma's fifth century in ODI cricket. He has converted eight of his fifty-plus scores five times. The brilliant knock raced Bavuma past 1,200 runs (1,264) in the format. This was his 27th appearance in the 50-over format. His strike rate reads 90.47. As a skipper, he has raced to 929 runs in 21 ODIs at a sensational average of 58.06.
Century on ODI debut
Meanwhile, Bavuma is one of the three SA batters with a century on ODI debut. He accomplished the milestone against Ireland in September 2016, slamming 113 off 123 balls. Colin Ingram and Reeza Hendricks are the only other Proteas batters with this illustrious feat.
