Proteas newbie Tony de Zorzi bummed to miss out on maiden Test century

South Africa closed day one at Wanderers on 311/7, with Aiden Markram and de Zorzi top scoring with 96 and 85 runs respectively, as both came agonisingly close to triple figures.

However, the Western Province ace, who featured in just his second Test, refused to dwell on the prospective personal milestone as he credited the performance of the team.

"Ja, obviously, it was a good opportunity. Dean [Elgar] and Aiden [Markram] gave us a nice base, so it was easy to come in at three and play the way I did," the 25-year-old said in the post-play presser on Tuesday.

"I was disappointed, obviously, not to get over the line [and score 100 runs]. I think I tried to get a little too greedy with that particular ball, but at the end of the day I'm happy to contribute towards the score and towards the team's performance."

The former Titans batter, who is now based in Cape Town for the course of the domestic season, had his mother in attendance at the Bullring on Wednesday as he fell short of a ton – something he hopes to achieve next time out, which could come in the second innings.

"Ja, there's a couple of friends here, and some people that claim to be my friends but I've never met them [laughs], and it's always nice to have my Mom watching," he added.

"Obviously I'm in Cape Town, so she hasn't been able to watch a lot of the games when I'm paying for Province, so this is quite nice. I could see, she usually sits in the same place so I knew where she was.

"So, ja, I was happy that she was able to watch me and hopefully next time she comes, I can get three figures."