Temba Bavuma joins Sunrisers Eastern Cape for remainder of SA20

After going unsold in the SA20 auction, South Africa white-ball skipper Temba Bavuma has been snapped by by Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) for the remainder of the tournament as a replacement for England batter Tom Abell, who is currently part of the England Lions squad on their Sri Lanka tour. 

SEC have two more games in the group stages next and are placed second in the table with 17 points from eight games so far. They take on Durban Super Giants (DSG) on Friday (February 3) and Joburg Super Kings (JSK) on Sunday February 5).

🗣️ "I'm sure good memories will be made."

Here's to having a memorable campaign, Temba! 👊💥#SEC #SunrisersEasternCape #PlayWithFire pic.twitter.com/stxzB3aSPZ

— Sunrisers Eastern Cape (@SunrisersEC) February 2, 2023

Bavuma's inclusion in the tournament comes after an impressive performance in the One-Day International (ODI) series against England, which the Proteas won 2-1. He scored a match-winning hundred in the second game in Bloemfontein that saw South Africa chase down 343. He also finished with 180 runs in the series, which is his personal best.

Often criticised for his inability of big-hitting, Bavuma scored at a strike-rate of over 100 in all the three matches. After being overlooked by the franchises initially, Bavuma had said that he felt let down.

He revealed he had been working closely with head coach Shukri Conrad on changing his mindset and taking on the bowlers more often.

Bavuma has scored more than 2,000 runs in T20 cricket at a strike-rate of more than 123 that includes eight fifties and a century in his 98 innings.