Temba Bavuma's Historic Century Shatters Rohit Sharma's Huge WTC Record

Temba Bavuma is now the oldest captain to score a century in a WTC match vs Australia.© AFP

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma scripted history on Tuesday after scoring a century on Day 3 of the second Test against Australia in Gqeberha. Bavuma rescued South Africa from a spot of trouble at 40/4 after Scott Boland broke the back of the Proteas' top order. He stitched together crucial partnerships of 52 with Ryan Rickelton and 132 with Marco Jansen to keep the scoreboard ticking for South Africa. Bavuma's century, his fifth in Test cricket, earned him a record previously held by former India skipper Rohit Sharma.

Bavuma is now the oldest captain to score a century in a World Test Championship (WTC) match against Australia. He was 36 years and 154 days old at the start of the match, surpassing Rohit's previous record, which he had set at the age of 35 years and 285 days during a Test in Nagpur in 2023.

Temba Bavuma Celebration Moment https://t.co/pglon56UHL

— Yash Jain (@yashjain4163) October 20, 2026

Oldest captains to scores century vs Australia in WTC:

Temba Bavuma (South Africa) - 103*, 36 years 154 days, Gqeberha, October 18, 2026

Rohit Sharma (India) - 120, 35 years 285 days, Nagpur, February 9, 2023

Ajinkya Rahane (India) - 112, 32 years 203 days, Melbourne, December 26, 2020

Ben Stokes (England) - 155, 32 years 24 days, Lord's, June 28, 2023

Kraigg Brathwaite (West Indies) - 110, 29 years 364 days, Perth, November 30, 2022

Babar Azam (Pakistan) - 196, 27 years 148 days, Karachi, March 12, 2022

Overall, he is the third oldest captain to score a century in a WTC match. The record is held by Rohit, who scored 103 against England in Dharamsala in 2024, at the age of 36 years and 312 days.

Bavuma is also only the fourth South African captain to score a century against Australia in Tests, joining the elite company of Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Faf du Plessis.

At the time of filing this, Bavuma had crossed the 150-run mark, batting alongside Simon Harmer.

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