South African batter Heinrich Klaasen was delighted after he scored a fine knock against India in the second T20I at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack on Sunday. The tourists won by four wickets as they chase down 149 runs with 10 balls to spare to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.
The Proteas were put under pressure by a brilliant opening spell by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took three wickets in the first three overs he bowled. Klaasen took his time in the early phase but batted with confidence after facing a few balls.
The right-hander went on to score a match-winning knock of 81 runs off just 46 balls with the help of seven fours and five sixes. Klaasen played at the top of his game against Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel and took them to the cleaners. The Indian spin duo conceded 68 runs in the five overs they bowled collectively and could not keep the scoring rate in check.
Klaasen was able to grab his opportunity with both hands after he replaced Quinton de Kock in the final XI. The right-hander gave credit to the team’s support staff who have always put their weight behind him.
Klaasen was awarded the Player of the match and he said in the post-match presentation, “Quinny came up to me in the bus and told me that he has injured his wrist. Yesterday morning his hand was a bit stiff, so I got to know that I am playing yesterday. It looked very difficult with the new ball, so I tried to target the spinners. I am glad it happened against India. I am honored to be here, and I am lucky to be here. Lot of staff members backed me, so pretty happy with that support, this one’s for them.”
On the other hand, David Miller once again played an unbeaten knock of 20 runs. Miller heaped praise on Heinrich Klaasen for playing a match-winning knock.
Miller said after the game, “It was a great win. It was a little bit of a tricky wicket as we all knew, we weren’t in trouble but they bowled really well upfront in the first 10 overs, Klaasy’s knock was phenomenal and one of the best I have seen. The conditions in which he played and to come out and do what he did made it easy for us at the back end. It was about playing your game and not worrying about the wicket, if it is keeping low it gets in your head as a batter, so you are not quite sure whether to go forward or not, it was about looking to play straight. It was a little bit up and down but we managed to finish it. The coach and captain’s decision, Klaasy hasn’t played much recently and for him to come in and play the way he did.. it was more to just hold me back but Klaasy proved us wrong. It is really tough to win here, so to have a win like this and be 2-0 up is a great achievement. We are on the right track but there’s still a lot of cricket to be played.”
The third T20I will be played on Tuesday at the Vishakhapatnam.
