Heinrich Klaasen has become the latest South African hero after leading South Africa to victory in the rain-curtailed Johannesburg ODI.
Klaasen smashed an unbeaten 43 from 27 balls. "It's a massive, massive confidence-booster for us. We didn't have the confidence but just to get the first win has lifted the spirits in the change room,” he was quoted as saying in a Cricbuzz report after the win.
Klaasen agreed the reprieve to David Miller was the turning point. "It was definitely a momentum changer for us, getting that free hit on David's wicket . He's a cool, calm and experienced cricketer and he just said, 'Anything in our slot we need to back and whatever we decide to do, we need to do fully.' So we were very calculated in our approach there. Maybe it didn't look like it, but it was all calculated and planned out,” he added.
Klaasen explained his unorthodox batting which put the bowlers off track. "That's where the gaps were, so I needed to do something about it. I can't describe it but for me, that was my only boundary option, he (Chahal) bowled quite wide and got a lot of turn and bounce, that was my gutsy shot at that moment and I pulled it off,” the batsman further said.
--By A Cricket Correspondent