BAVUMA SMASH ODI CENTURY ON DEBUT

Proteas Batman, Temba Bavuma

Temba Bavuma (26) became the second South African cricketer after Colin Ingram to score a century on ODI debut as South Africa defeated Ireland with 206 runs at Benoni Yesterday.

The 26-year old, Kwa-Langa born batman dropped on one by Kevin O’Brien ,and went on to became the 12th cricketer to score a century on ODI debut. Bavuma scored 113 off 123 balls as South Africa reached 354 for five. He smashed 13 fours and 1 six.

Cricketers who scored ODI Century on debut

Dennis Amiss   vs Australia (1972)

Desmond Haynes vs Australia (1978)

Andy Flower vs Sri Lanka (1992)

Saleem Elahi   vs Sri Lanka (1995)

Martin Guptil vs West Indies (2009)

Colin Ingram vs Zimbabwe (2010)

Rob Nicol vs Zimbabwe (2011)

Phillip Hughes vs Sri Lanka (2013)

Michael Lumb vs West Indies (2014)

Mark Chapman vs United Arab Emirates (2015)

K.L Rahul vs Zimbabwe (2016)

Temba Bavuma vs Ireland (2016)

For anyone who has kept an eye on Bavuma’s career, this has hardly been a surprise. Just a few weeks ago he scored a century in the Ekasi Challenge for the Lions and despite a modest List A average over the last few seasons, Bavuma has already proven that he has what it takes to cut it at international level.

One-day cricket might not be Bavuma’s preferred format, but lest we forget, there was a time when Hashim Amla was not considered a one-day player either. And therein lies the rub. Transformation, as previously written on these pages, is not about taking the game away from white people, it's simply about giving white players of colour an equal opportunity to succeed.