‘Scores of 150-160 look like winning scores’ – Temba Bavuma ahead of South Africa’s campaign in T20 World Cup 2021

South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma said that he’s making a speedy recovery from his hand injury and is hopeful of playing his team’s opening match against Aaron Finch’s Australia on October 23 in Abu Dhabi. Bavuma played a solitary ODI against Sri Lanka after which he was ruled out of the remaining ODIs and subsequent T20Is due to a due broken thumb.

The right-hander is most likely to miss the Proteas’ warm-up matches against Afghanistan and Pakistan on Monday and Wednesday respectively. Bavuma is set to have his first live net session on Friday, October 15 as he keeps his fingers crossed regarding his progress into gaining match fitness.

“Everything is on track. I had a good batting session today. My hand is definitely improving by the day. It’s getting stronger and I’m getting a lot more comfortable with it. It (his first live net session on Friday) will give me a better indication of how far I’ve progressed. What I’m trying to get out of it is comfort; to see what I can do and make peace with what I can’t do,” Bavuma was quoted as saying.

We will really have to be smart, says Temba Bavuma

Bavuma, who’s played 16 T20Is since his debut in 2019, reckoned that batting may not be an easy task on the slow and low decks in the UAE. He said that targets above the 150-run mark may turn out to be winning scores. Bavuma was also of the opinion that conditions in Sharjah won’t be batting friendly.

“As a batter, I’d like to be able to get on a nice wicket where you can hit through the line and throw your hands, but the general trend from looking at the IPL is that we won’t have that luxury as batters. We will have to really graft out there. We will really have to be smart. Scores of 150-160 look like winning scores. As batters, we are going to have to dig deep,” he added.

Moreover, Bavuma mentioned that he’s expecting to either open the batting with Quinton de Kock or bat at No.3 in the upcoming edition of the World Cup.

 Check the latest updates of the T20 World Cup schedule, T20 World cup Teams and Squads, T20 World Cup Points table, and more on CricTracker.