‘I'd like to make No.3 spot my own one day’ – Theunis de Bruyn

It wasn’t enough to win, or even save, the Test match for South Africa, but de Bruyn, and Temba Bavuma to an extent, did give the visiting side a bit of hope for a while in Colombo against Sri Lanka.

It didn’t last, and South Africa went down by 199 runs to concede the series 2-0, but de Bruyn had reason to be happy after scoring his maiden century in his sixth Test, an innings of 101 scored in over four hours against a bowling attack his more experienced teammates struggled to cope with.

Happily for de Bruyn, he scored his runs from No.3, his preferred spot in the batting order.

“For me, it does make a difference batting at No 3. I've batted there my whole career, even as a youngster. The waiting game when you're batting at six and seven mentally drains you – I don't know, I'm not used to it,” he said.

“But I wanted to do really well batting at No 3. It's a place I really cherish and I'd like to make it my own one day if I get more opportunities.”

Bavuma (63) got together with de Bruyn with South Africa at 113/5 in their second innings, chasing 490 for victory. Sri Lanka might have expected a quick finish but it wasn’t to be.

“Temba actually came in and played quite comfortably. He scored runs all the way through his innings and could start ticking over the strike,” said de Bruyn. “I think we almost had the same game plan – to sweep a lot and reverse sweep, and hit your ones over the leg-side.

“I think we both learned a lot over the last few hours, playing against the Sri Lankan spinners on this wicket.”

De Bruyn might not have played the Test at all if South Africa had done better than 126 and 73 in the first Test. When he did, he certainly grabbed his chance, and played the sweep with great expertise.

“Back home you don't need the sweep, because we play on bouncier wickets and you can play spinners down the ground. But here, you know they're bowling in good areas, and the wickets don't bounce as much. The sweep is a better option,” he pointed out.

“For me, it was important to get the fielders out on the boundary early on, especially with the new ball. If you're just defending, it can be difficult. So, if you put the bowlers slightly under pressure, you can get the fielders out. I didn't know it was going to take that long to get a hundred. They just don't let you go. They keep on bowling very accurately. It's Test cricket. It's not easy.”