Viral photo of Temba Bavuma (green jersey) during the captaincy match before the World Cup.© Twitter
South African captain Temba Bavuma’s photo from a captaincy meeting ahead of the World Cup went viral on social media on Wednesday. In the photo circulating online, Bavumna was seen sitting on a chair next to other players on stage during the meeting. In the photo, Bavuma appeared to be sleeping and almost everyone believed it before the player himself came out to clear the air. “Temba Bavuma just fell asleep during the World Cup captain’s conference,” wrote England’s Barmy Army, sharing the photo on X, formerly Twitter.
“I blame the camera angle, I didn’t sleep,” Bavuma replied to the post.
See it here:
I blame the camera angle, I didn’t sleep
— Temba Bavuma (@TembaBavuma) October 4, 2023
South Africa goes 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 increase the pace at the right time.
Last month, the Proteas defeated Australia 3-2 after trailing 2-0 in a recent ODI series, winning each of their last three matches by more than 100 runs.
Proteas will play their World Cup opening match against Sri Lanka at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on October 7.
New Zealand saw off the South African challenge by seven points, courtesy of the Duckworth-Lewis method in their final World Cup warm-up match 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 in Thiruvananthapuram. Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen both got three wickets each.
Due to bad weather, South Africa needed 219 in 37 overs as per the DLS score and they fought well but ended up scoring 211 for 4 in the stipulated overs. Quinton de Kock, who would retire after the World Cup, seemed in good touch and scored 84 off 89 balls. Rassie van der Dussen with 51 was the creator of the other half century.
(With PTI inputs)
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