‘This time for South Africa’: Temba Bavuma’s men give a hardened cricketing community new hope with WTC triumph

It was a March night at Mirpur on the outskirts of Dhaka. Graeme Smith faced the media with moist eyes. The first question, more a statement, was brutal: “They used to call you chokers earlier, now they are calling you jokers.”

The South African skipper had just lost the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal against New Zealand by 49 runs while chasing 221, and it fitted into the template of a team notorious for faltering in the climax. Still, that question was a knife being twisted in. Smith, with enormous restraint, spoke about why his men’s campaign ground to a halt.

This tale of being so close and yet so far was repeated often. The last stumble being the 2024 T20 World Cup final where India prevailed over Aiden Markram’s men by seven runs at Bridgetown. South Africa won an ICC silverware in 1998 – The Wills International Cup, which later became the Champions Trophy, and the title drought extended interminably.

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South Africa was coasting at 151 for four in 16.1 overs chasing 177 against India at Bridgetown in the 2024 T20 World Cup final. But a familiar SA collapse followed and the side ended up losing the final by just 7 runs.
| Photo Credit:
K.R. Deepak

All those ghosts of the past and snide remarks were finally laid to rest on a glorious Saturday when South Africa claimed the ICC World Test Championship final at Lord’s. A five-wicket victory in a match the Aussies dominated for a large part, revealed the steel within Temba Bavuma’s men. On the hope-metre, what Bavuma’s troops achieved is on par with the feat of Kapil’s Devils in the 1983 World Cup.

This triumph was a tribute to what Bavuma and his lead stars like spearhead Kagiso Rabada and centurion Markram achieved. Conceding a first innings lead and still to find that belief deep within is remarkable. Equally, it was a redemption song for a rainbow nation that dealt with the spectre of apartheid, and the resultant sporting isolation, before Nelson Mandela applied the healing touch while a country regained its spirit and made a slow comeback.

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The list of hurdles South Africa stumbled at seemed endless till it was time to laugh aloud and welcome a new champion in the willow game.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images

Often a sigh accompanied cricketing yarns about South Africa. The lost years of Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards, Mike Procter and to some extent Clive Rice. The subsequent losses in ICC events despite being a fine side. The match-fixing crisis that tainted Hansie Cronje. The list seemed endless till it was time to laugh aloud and welcome a new champion in the willow game.

Once Shakira sang “This time for Africa” in her 2010 ‘Waka, Waka’ number. Bavuma and his men will perhaps whisper: “This time for South Africa.” Sport offers hope. It always does.