Bavuma eyes more South Africa success after Test final win over Australia
LONDON: South Africa captain Temba Bavuma wants his team's triumph in the World Test Championship final to be the first of many trophies for the country's cricketers.
In 18 previous attempts in the one-day international and T20 World Cups, South Africa had only reached a solitary final.
That was in last year's T20 World Cup in Barbados, when they lost to India despite needing just 30 runs from their last 30 balls, with six wickets left.
There was no such heartache at Lord's, with Aiden Markram making 136 and Bavuma 66 as South Africa chased down a target of 282 for a five-wicket win over defending champions Australia before lunch on Saturday's fourth morning.
Bavuma, the first black African specialist batsman to play Test cricket for the Proteas, said his side had been inspired by South Africa's Springboks, who who have won four Rugby World Cups – including the two most recent tournaments.
"This is special for this group, special for myself, for the country," Bavuma told reporters.
"I have watched the rugby guys and the biggest thing I admire about them is the way with their success they have embraced what being South African actually means.
"As South Africans we are unique in a lot of ways. Our present and future is shaped by our past and the way they (the Springboks) have gone about things has really captured the hearts of everyone. It's something we've spoken about and to try do something special."
But, the 35-year-old said he now wanted more.
"We hope this is the start of something. Hopefully this is the start of trophies for the team."
Bavuma said he hoped winning the mace for best Test nation would lift the profile of Test cricket in South Africa, where no Test matches are scheduled for the upcoming 2025/25 home season.
"We want to play more Test cricket," he said. "We want to play against the bigger nations. So I think this will go a long way in making us a lot more attractive, and also the so-called smaller nations."
Bavuma added that his relatively inexperienced team had shown plenty of character but still had room for improvement, saying: "Even over the past three-and-a-half days we haven't played perfect cricket but we keep finding a way to get the job done."
The captain said his players wanted to achieve the consistent success of earlier South African Test teams, in particular the sides that held the Test mace for three years between 2013 and 2015, as a result of topping the rankings before the introduction of a Test final.
"We've said as a team we would like to judge ourselves after three or four years as a group," said Bavuma. "We would like to emulate what (former captain) Graeme (Smith) and his team did."
Referring to South Africa's first opponents in the next WTC cycle later this year, Bavuma said: "We need to go to Pakistan and India and get those victories there."
Markram, meanwhile, said he had not slept well after finishing Friday's play on 102 not out.
"I even took a sleeping pill but it didn't work, he said.
The opener added he had been motivated by memories of last year's T20 World Cup final collapse, which happened under his captaincy.
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