'No one is happy' - South Africa captain Temba Bavuma lays bare emotions inside dressing room after Australia defeat

South Africa suffered a deflating loss in the opening Test of the three-match series against Australia in Durban on October 14. The defeat ended Temba Bavuma's 12-match unbeaten streak as South Africa's Test captain. The 214-run loss left the hosts badly hurt, with Bavuma admitting no one in the dressing room was happy.

"It is disappointing. It's not the way you want to start a series, any series, let alone one against a top side like Australia," Bavuma said after losing the series opener to the Australians, as reported by Cricinfo. "The emotions are obviously still a little high. You probably want them to settle before getting into those conversations, but there are obvious areas where we can definitely improve. No one is happy in that dressing room, given the result."

South Africa appeared to have things under control and seemed to be cruising when they reduced the tourists to 124/6 on the opening day. However, Matt Renshaw joined forces with Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon to pull Australia out of trouble and propel them to 390. While Renshaw missed out on a double century, falling for 190, his near-flawless knock guided Australia into a commanding position.

The hosts were never truly in the contest thereafter and struggled to mount any sort of fightback for the remainder of the match. Bavuma felt the Renshaw-Cummins partnership took the game away from South Africa, especially as the conditions became more favourable for batting.

"When Renshaw and Cummins came together, conditions were a lot more in their favour and they became far more ruthless," Bavuma said. "They didn't give us anything. They spent time at the crease, the wicket flattened out and the ball got softer. The momentum they gained through that partnership, they simply carried it forward. Renshaw absorbed pressure, put us under pressure whenever he saw an opportunity and, with the way he countered the threat of spin, made it difficult for us to maintain pressure from the other end. We've seen a lot of innings, and that's probably one of the better ones."