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'I don’t know what the maths looks like but we’re playing good cricket and we want it to continue.'
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma is taking nothing for granted as his side inched closer to a maiden berth in the ICC World Test Championship Final with an impressive series sweep over Sri Lanka.
The Proteas moved to the top of the World Test Championship standings with an 109-run triumph over Sri Lanka in Gqeberha on Monday and are now just one Test victory away from earning their place in the 2025 ultimate Test at Lord's.
Bavuma's side has two more Tests remaining this cycle to clinch their place in the one-off Test and need just one win from their two-match series at home against Pakistan that commences later this month to ensure they feature in the match.
But Bavuma knows there is still work to do and is not contemplating a spot in the final until his side has it cemented.
“The championship table looks good,” ICC quoted Bavuma as saying after the victory over Sri Lanka.
“We see ourselves at number one with two games to go. I don’t know what the maths looks like but we’re playing good cricket and we want it to continue.”
Bavuma was named Player of the Series against Sri Lanka after he managed 327 runs across four innings, but the Proteas had a number of major contributors that included young batter Tristan Stubbs (187 runs), all-rounder Marco Jansen (14 wickets) and spinner Keshav Maharaj (nine scalps).
“For a lot of the guys it was a proper taste of what Test cricket is about,” Bavuma said.
“It’s rare when you get to play for five days and it’s also rare when the game is always in the balance. There were times when we were on top and times when Sri Lanka were getting the momentum on their side.”
Sri Lanka remain in contention for a spot in the World Test Championship decider, although the Asian side will need to win both their remaining fixtures against Australia next year and rely on other results going in their favour.
Five Test wins in a row, made up of away victories over West Indies in Guyana in August, two in Bangladesh in October and two more over Sri Lanka, means South Africa top the table of Test results over the last two-year cycle and are within touching distance of a place in the final at Lord’s from June 11-15.
If South Africa go on and win the two-Test home series over Pakistan, which starts in Pretoria on Boxing Day, they will be assured of place in the final.
"We weren't even thinking about this when we went to the West Indies in August," said coach Shukri Conrad of limited expectations for the side after starting the 2023-25 WTC cycle with a 1-1 series draw against India and then effectively forfeiting a two-Test series in New Zealand in February after failing to avoid a clash of dates with the SA20 league.
Cricket South Africa allowed their top Test players to stay home and earn lucrative salaries in the domestic Twenty20 competition, instead sending an under-strength side where half the team had no previous Test experience. They were roundly defeated by New Zealand.
But South Africa have worked their way into contention with five wins in their subsequent six Test outings in what could be a boost for the longer format of the game in a country where it is under threat.
South Africa already play a lot less than other countries -- 12 Tests in the latest WTC cycle to 21 for England and 19 each for Australia and India -- to the annoyance of the players.
"In South Africa T20 cricket dominates but I think Test cricket is something that is still highly treasured by a lot of the players," captain Temba Bavuma told a press conference.
But poor crowds are a problem.
“A lot of people say we don’t play enough Tests, but they don’t even show up for the few Test matches that we have,” CSA chief executive Pholetsi Moseki said.
Progress to the WTC final might engineer a shift in attitude that could be a boost for the red ball game and hand the Test format a lifeline.