Heinrich Klaasen batted for almost a few hours – battling scorching and humid circumstances – and finally went on to attain his fourth century in ODI cricket.
However, it wasn’t simple. As a lot as he dominated the England bowlers in South Africa’s marquee World Cup fixture on the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, Klaasen appeared fairly knackered on 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.
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”It’s similar to nearly operating in a sauna for the entire innings which is what we clearly ready for and we’re used to those circumstances however it nonetheless takes loads out of the physique…”
Klaasen and Marco Jansen’s blitzkrieg within the final 10 overs meant South Africa placed on 399 for seven, the very best ever ODI complete towards England and the second-highest on the venue. But for that to occur, Klaasen had ‘to dig really, really deep there.’ He didn’t have any vitality 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.
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“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.
South Africa’s senior males’s staff has by no means received an ODI World Cup and this time round, issues look promising.
Source web site: sportstar.thehindu.com
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