South Africa, who upset Australia in last year’s World Test Championship final in London, suffered a heavy 214-run defeat at Kingsmead after being bowled out for 206 in their second innings.
“It’s disappointing. It's not the way you want to start a series, right? Any kind of series, let alone one against a top outfit like Australia,” Bavuma told reporters.
“There are obvious things that we could definitely improve on, whether it's from the batting point of view or the bowling, but yeah, it's not a happy change room.”
South Africa negated losing the toss, often crucial at the Durban venue, by having the tourists floundering on the first day, but then Matt Renshaw scored 190 to steer Australia to a handy first innings total of 390, and they never looked back after that.
“You have to praise the Australians the way they hung in when we had them 124-6. As a bowling attack, you're betting on yourself to restrict them to less than 250, and for them to go and get that big score, I think mentally took a little bit out of us,” added Bavuma, who saw his unbeaten record as captain end.
Setting the example
When South Africa went out to bat, they were faced with the same favourable batting conditions.
“We weren’t able to make the most of it. Australia’s lower order spent time at the crease and really showed what was possible once the ball got soft.
“In the second innings they played like a team that was in front. They put us under pressure, took command of the game, and in our second innings, there was just not enough fight and mental aptitude from us,” the captain said.
Aiden Markram was the only South African batsman to score more than 50 in the match, batting for most of Tuesday as he tried to keep a rearguard fight intact before being dismissed near the end for 75.
It was South Africa’s first test since their 2-0 series win in India last November, and Bavuma was asked about his side being “rusty”.
“I can’t sit here and use that as an excuse. You can never really prepare for test cricket without playing test cricket. But a lot of the mistakes we made out there were mental, so I think that's where we really let ourselves down," he said.
“In saying that, whatever cobwebs were there, I guess are dusted out, and we have another opportunity in a couple of days.”
The second test is at St George’s Park in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), starting on Sunday.