South Africa captain Temba Bavuma scripted history on Tuesday after scoring a century on Day 3 of the second Test against Australia in Gqeberha. Bavuma rescued South Africa from a spot of trouble at 40/4 after Scott Boland broke the back of the Proteas’ top order. He stitched together crucial partnerships of 52 with Ryan Rickelton and 132 with Marco Jansen to keep the scoreboard ticking for South Africa.
Bavuma’s century, his fifth in Test cricket, earned him a record previously held by former India skipper Rohit Sharma.
He was 36 years and 154 days old at the start of the match, surpassing Rohit’s previous record, which he had set at the age of 35 years and 285 days during a Test in Nagpur in 2023. The record is held by Rohit, who scored 103 against England in Dharamsala in 2024, at the age of 36 years and 312 days. Bavuma is now the oldest captain to score a century in a World Test Championship (WTC) match against Australia. Overall, he is the third oldest captain to score a century in a WTC match. Bavuma is also only the fourth South African captain to score a century against Australia in Tests, joining the elite company of Graeme Smith , Jacques Kallis and Faf du Plessis .
