Viral picture of Temba Bavuma (green jersey) from pre-World Cup captains’ meet.© Twitter
South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma’s picture from a pre-World Cup captains’ meet went viral on social media on Wednesday. The photo that was circulated online had Bavumna sitting on a chair alongside other players on the stage during the meet. In the picture, Bavuma seemed to be sleeping and almost everyone believed it before the player himself came out to clear the air on it. “Temba Bavuma has just fallen asleep in the World Cup captain’s conference,” wrote England’s Barmy Army while sharing the photo on X, formerly Twitter.
“I blame the camera angle, I wasn’t sleeping,” replied Bavuma on the post.
See it here:
I blame the camera angle, I wasn’t sleeping
— Temba Bavuma (@TembaBavuma) October 4, 2023
South Africa head into the World Cup without key pacers Anrich Nortje and Sisanda Magala who were ruled out of the tournament due to injuries. However, the Temba Bavuma-led side seemed to have picked up the pace at the right time.
Last month, the Proteas defeated Australia 3-2 after being 2-0 down in a recent ODI series, winning the last three matches by more than 100 runs each time.
Proteas will play their World Cup opening match against Sri Lanka at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on October 7.
New Zealand disposed of the South African challenge by seven runs, courtesy Duckworth-Lewis method in their last World Cup warm-up game on Monday.
New Zealand posted a healthy 321 for 6 in 50 overs with Devon Conway (78 off 73 balls) and Tom Latham (52 off 56 balls) scoring half-centuries at Thiruvananthapuram. Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen both got three wickets apiece.
Due to inclement weather, South Africa needed 219 in 37 overs as per DLS score and they fought well but ended up scoring 211 for 4 in the stipulated overs. Quinton de Kock, set to retire after the World Cup, looked in good touch, scoring 84 of 89 balls. Rassie van der Dussen with 51 was the other half-century maker.
(With PTI Inputs)
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