Temba Bavuma was delighted with his impressive batting performance in the second innings of the Lions’ 4-Day Franchise Series clash with the Dolphins in Pietermaritzburg.

Despite the Dolphins claiming a 130-run victory on Thursday afternoon, Bavuma made an important statement to the CSA selectors with a massive score of 180, his best ever in first-class cricket.

Much has been said about the middle-order batsman’s omission from the current Test team that is facing England at the moment with Bavuma himself taking to social media to indicate his disappointment.

Even though the result didn’t go their way, the 29-year-old was a happy after his good showing with the bat for the Lions.

‘The result is what comes first. We are disappointed we couldn’t take it all the way. We fought hard. Guys like Nono Pongolo came in and put a heavy price on their wicket.’

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Bavuma and Pongolo frustrated the Dolphins bowlers for a long period of time with a valuable 99-run partnership for the eighth wicket.

For him, though, it was important to get some runs under the belt and build some confidence.

‘It is always awesome to contribute to the team. I have been trying to rack up those big scores. Fortunately today was that opportunity and I was able to grab it with both hands.

‘Feels like I haven’t played cricket for ages. It was nice to be out in the middle. In the middle is a place where you can practice and set your goals. What matters is what you do in the middle and are you able to get your mind in the right space,’ said Bavuma, who has 36 Test matches to his name.

Despite the wicket offering more for the batsmen over the past four days, Bavuma still feels he had to dig deep against the spinners, who were causing the Lions some trouble in both innings’.

‘I felt good, even in the first innings. It was a good wicket – it deteriorated quite quickly. You had to have good plans against the spinners. If you stuck to your plans there were definitely runs out there.’

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