Lunch break: Temba Bavuma opens his shoulders to lead Proteas fightback at Lord's

The Proteas fought back bravely on the second morning of the ICC World Test Championship final against Australia, playing with a lot more freedom to get themselves back in the contest.

The South Africans went into the lunch break at 121/5, still trailing the Australians by 91 runs. Captain Temba Bavuma (36, 84 balls, 4x4, 1x6) was the only wicket to fall in the morning session.

The Proteas started the morning with a lot more positive intent, as Bavuma came to the crease and looked to score instead of just surviving, which was the case with most of the South African batsmen on the first evening.

After blasting out Australia for 212, the Proteas limped to 43/4 in 22 overs on day one. Bavuma took almost 30 balls to get off the mark and seemed to just want to see out the day’s play. After scoring 3 from 37 the previous evening, he scored a further 33 from 47 on the second morning.

But on the second morning he switched gears, taking the fight to the Aussies. It was clear from the first over he faced from Mitchell Starc that it would be the case, as he stepped into the ball and looked to score instead of just playing dead-bat shots.

The captain hit two superb lofted cover drives for four in the third over of the day - Starc’s second - while Bedingham also played a few fine shots off his legs. Suddenly, the pitch and the bowling started to look a lot less threatening than it was the previous evening.

Bavuma spanked a few more balls over and through the covers, forcing the Australians to try the short ball against the Proteas captain. However, he responded by pulling his Australian counterpart Pat Cummins for six over square leg.

Bedingham hit a brilliant straight drive off Starc in the next over, but he started to get bogged down in the middle part of the first session. The Aussies started to bowl a lot straighter to him to bring LBW into play, as he tends to plant his front foot and plays around his pad.

The scoring slowed after the drinks break, with Bavuma not seeing much of the strike during that period. The Australians got some control back with star off-spinner Nathan Lyon getting a few cheap overs away to curb the run scoring.

Bavuma survived an LBW appeal off the bowling of Josh Hazlewood, with the review showing he got an inside edge. However, the Proteas then lost their captain in the 39th over of the innings after he again attempted a cover drive. But this time he couldn't get his weight over the ball was caught in the covers after a brilliant diving catch by Marnus Labuschagne off Cummins’ bowling.

Bavuma and Bedingham had shared a 64-run stand to get the Proteas back on track. However, they still need a couple of big partnerships to try and erase the Australians’ lead.

Bedingham (39 not out, 96 balls, 6x4) who hit a couple of lovely on-drives towards the end of the session, will continue after the break with wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynne.

@JohnGoliath82