Aiden Markram made 37 and David Bedingham 49 in the first innings, while Tristan Stubbs scored 32 and Wiaan Mulder 30.
Marco Jansen added an aggressive 26 from 20 balls, with Simon Harmer unbeaten on 35, but none of the top-order batters converted their starts into a commanding score.
It was a pattern that continued in the second innings.
Markram spent 358 minutes at the crease for 75, while Bedingham made 46 from 68 balls, Jansen carded 35 from 54 and Mulder 29 off 110 balls.
“From a batting point of view, I think if I look at the first innings, there were guys who got in, you know, and you would like those guys to be able to go in, to go through and make big performances for the team,” Bavuma said.
That was the key difference between the two sides.
Australia found a way to turn pressure into substantial contributions, most notably through Matt Renshaw, who transformed a difficult position at 120/6 into a 390 all-out total with his 190.
“You've got to praise Australia, the way they hung in when we had them 120 for six,” Bavuma said.
“Any other day, you back yourself as a bowling attack to restrict them to less than 250, and for them to go and get that, I think mentally that took a little bit out of us.
“I think he [Renshaw] will agree that's probably one of his best Test knocks.
"He absorbed pressure, and he put us under pressure when he saw the opportunity.”
The Australian opener then added 82 in the second innings, reinforcing the value of converting time at the crease into meaningful runs.
For the Proteas, the second innings offered a similar opportunity through Markram, but they could not build around his 75.
The hosts were eventually bowled out for 206, with Australia’s pace attack repeatedly finding ways to break partnerships.
Bavuma believes the lesson is not simply to bat defensively, but to become better at absorbing pressure before taking advantage when the game presents scoring opportunities.
“From the batters as well, just to be able to soak in that pressure, and then when the opportunity is there, being able to throw a couple of punches,” he said.
There were also admissions that some of the dismissals were avoidable.
“There were soft dismissals. You could probably throw myself into that category,” Bavuma said.
Instead, Bavuma felt the Proteas had to look more closely at how they handled pressure.
“A lot of the mistakes we made out there were mental, so I think that's where we really let ourselves down,” he said.
