Bavuma: I felt like I was on 0 again

Cape Town - The 'nervous nineties' are a very real thing in cricket, but for Temba Bavuma on Tuesday thoughts of crossing the line and carding a maiden Test century had started even before then. 

The 25-year-old finished the South African first innings on 102* after a quite sublime innings, and while he went to his century with a thick outside edge past slip, how he got there really didn't matter to anybody who was at Newlands to witness the historic knock.

"When I got to 80 it kind of felt like I was on 0 again," Bavuma confessed.

"I think Stuart Broad was bowling and I found it quite tough … I tried to do a couple of things just to try and unsettle him and he just kept on nagging on that good length.

"I thought to myself that if I don’t get to that milestone maybe it just wasn’t meant to be. It was quite long … I just tried to take it ball by ball and luckily at the end things came through from my side."

The celebration that followed was one rich in emotion, and the support from the nation immediately began pouring in on social media.

"Not much thinking … a lot of emotion. Relief, satisfaction," Bavuma said of his fist-pumping towards the dressing room.

"I’ve been yearning for it, I’ve been fighting for it. So just getting that one under the belt … I’m just looking forward to the ones in the future if they do come. For me it’s just satisfaction and relief."

South Africa will go into the fifth and final day at Newlands with England on 16/0 - a lead of 18 runs.