Bavuma revels in the fun of breaking his Wanderers 'curse': 'The guys were always teasing me'

At the Wanderers

Temba Bavuma will never underplay the broader significance of an innings like his career-best effort against the West Indies here on Friday and how it inspires hope.

RECAP | SA v West Indies, Day 3

Yet it was heartening to hear how the phlegmatic Proteas Test skipper also enjoyed the more mundane, perhaps even fun elements to his unbeaten 171, which has put the hosts in a prime position to push for a series whitewash.

After all, he later had so much fun that he even donned a baggy green cap. 

Bavuma, who's called the Bullring his cricketing home for the past 14 years, never scored a red-ball century at the ground until now.     

"I've actually never scored a hundred here in first-class cricket," he said at the end of his monumental, 369-minute effort to date.

"It's definitely a monkey off my back. The guys are always teasing me that my name isn't on the honours board at my home ground, so I guess I can stick it to them. 

"[Jokes aside]... it's also special that it's against the West Indies, because, as I said leading to the series, it means sentimentally quite a lot because I grew up admiring their cricket too. That adds to the achievement."

READ | Heroic Bavuma’s first Test ton in 7 years puts Proteas on top at the Wanderers

The classy stroke-maker could even bask in the manner in which he reached his century - a disdainful lofted cover drive that was never going to be at risk of finding a fielder.

In fact, Bavuma had been going about reaching his milestone in a methodical, pragmatic manner, but once he caught sight of his mother Phumza and father Vuyo watching intently from the Unity Stand and an expectant crowd raising their noise level, he decided to get a move on.

"I don't think there was a point where I