Heinrich Klaasen in motion throughout ICC Cricket World Cup match between South Africa and England.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
Heinrich Klaasen batted for almost a pair of hours – battling sizzling and humid conditions – and finally went on to attain his fourth century in ODI cricket.
But then, it wasn’t simple. As a lot as he dominated the England bowlers in South Africa’s marquee World Cup fixture at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, Klaasen regarded fairly knackered at the finish, with the temperature hovering as much as 35 levels.
“It’s like just breathing in hot air and every time you try to run, it’s just sapping more and more energy and then at the end of the day, your body just doesn’t want to work with you anymore,” Klaasen mentioned.
”It’s identical to virtually working in a sauna for the complete innings which is what we clearly ready for and we’re used to those conditions but it surely nonetheless takes lots out of the physique.”
Digging deep
Klaasen and Marco Jansen’s blitzkrieg in the final 10 overs meant South Africa put on 399 for seven, the highest ever ODI complete in opposition to England and the second-highest at the venue. But for that to occur, Klaasen had ‘to dig really, really deep there.’ He didn’t have any power left.
“Obviously, it’s an honour for us to play for our country. And Marco also played a big part in that. He told me today that he’s got me and that I’m not allowed to walk off the field if I don’t score 100. And I told him, but I can’t run and he said, it’s fine, just give me 100% every time you face the ball,” Klaasen mentioned with a smile.
“It’s still a privilege to play for our country especially in a moment like this, after a bad loss against the Netherlands, you gotta dig deep for your country as well. So yeah, I’ve worked my whole life for it, so it’s a great moment.”
This was the third ODI century of the yr for Klaasen. “It ranks up to one of my better hundreds purely on the conditions that were out there. I really had to dig deep mentally. Physically, I was not in a good space, but mentally I had to dig very deep there,” he mentioned.
“Everyone obviously has got their tag over us but we’ve played some good cricket in the World Cup. We’ve been unlucky and obviously, we didn’t execute on certain games. But if you go look at our games that we’ve played, we’ve played some very, very good cricket.
“So, it’s not a surprise that we’re playing good cricket. This group has been playing good cricket for the last three years now. And we’ve been maturing nicely over the last three years. And it’s our time to really try to make a big statement for the world that South Africans are very good under pressure,” Klaassen mentioned.
