Bavuma left stranded short of a century

Temba Bavuma was denied what could have been a morale-boosting century on day two of the fourth test against Australia after he was dismissed five runs shy of his second ton at the Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.

The Proteas right-hander looked on course to reach his milestone before tea but things fell apart spectacularly when overzealous Keshav Maharaj was recklessly removed by Pat Cummins on 45 leaving Bavuma having to negotiate his way with last man Morne Morkel.

Morkel‚ who is playing in his last test match for South Africa‚ was dismissed in the next ball without scoring when Peter Handscomb caught his thick edge at second slip from the bowling of impressive Pat Cummins.

As a result‚ a disappointed Bavuma was left stranded on 95 off 194‚ after a 285 minutes knock that included 13 boundaries‚ as the Proteas were bowled out for 488 after 136.5 overs where Cummins returned with his second five-wicket haul at this venue.

Maharaj accelerated in his innings to put up a partnership of 76 with Bavuma but there was a feeling that he should have played sensibly to allow his partner to reach his milestone before going all out with his attacking shots.

At the end of the South African innings‚ the umpires called tea with Australia facing a mammoth task of clawing their way back into this match.

The other wicket to fall for South Africa after lunch was that of Vernon Philander when he was caught by Usman Khawaja at deep-square leg from the bowling of Lyon.