Temba Bavuma reckons South Africa’s one-day side still has a long way to go, even after chalking up a fifth consecutive bilateral success over Australia. The final fixture in Mackay was lost by a record margin, and the captain admitted the squad remains in an “exploration phase”.
“You’re seeing new faces in the team and that’s all part of us being in that exploration phase,” Bavuma said after the third ODI. “We’ve two years left and we’re definitely not close to where we want to be as a team.”
Only two debutants – Dewald Brevis and Prenelan Subrayen – took the field in this series, yet the reshuffle felt broader. Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton opened, Bavuma moved to three, and the middle-order was almost on rotation. There were four different batters in three slots and a mix-and-match approach to the all-rounders and specialist bowlers.
Markram and Rickelton’s best stand was 92, but their other efforts – 2 and 11 – underlined a nagging issue outside off stump. Bavuma himself passed fifty once, though his strike-rate stayed below 90.
In the middle, Matthew Breetzke was lively, hammering two brisk fifties before a hamstring niggle ruled him out of game three. Tony de Zorzi looked polished off the back foot yet surrendered his wicket cheaply. Brevis, meanwhile, fresh from a national T20 record, found three different ways to hole out in as many 50-over innings. Even so, the dressing-room remains fascinated.
“It’s refreshing watching him kind of go about his business. He’s not fazed by anything,” Bavuma said. “For him, it’s all about, he should have hit the ball harder… The longer he plays, the more he’ll start getting a little bit more batsmanship in his game.”
With the ball, Keshav Maharaj pressed his white-ball credentials, claiming a maiden ODI five-for at 4.64 runs an over in the series. Lungi Ngidi combined slower balls and cutters neatly in game two. Corbin Bosch and Wiaan Mulder appear locked in a private trial – Marco Jansen lurks for that same seam-bowling all-rounder berth – while Nandre Burger offered brief pace and Kwena Maphaka’s lone outing proved a harsh lesson.
Each cameo, Bavuma argues, feeds the bigger picture. The coaching staff now own hours of fresh footage and, crucially, time: two seasons to settle roles before the 2027 World Cup at home. The captain knows the gap is sizeable, yet he sounds content to build brick by brick.
