In the 2nd T20I against South Africa at Centurion, while chasing a massive total of 189, it was once again South Africa wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen who displayed his talent with the bat to lead South Africa’s batting line-up. He single-handedly took the game away from the opposition and especially he loved hammering wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for boundaries. He smashed five sixes and two fours off him in the match as he went on to score 69* runs in 30 balls.
During the post-match press-conference, Klaasen said, “I fancy him [Chahal] quite a lot. When I was in amateur cricket, there were a couple of quality leggies in that time when I started my career. I faced Shaun von Berg at the Titans a lot as well. We always made a joke that I need to finish the other legspinner’s career so he can go up, sometimes it works. Tonight it worked perfectly. I just tried to cash in as much as possible.”
Also read: Review: SA vs Ind (2nd T20I)Henrich Klaasen loves smashing Chahal
The hard-hitting batsman went on to add that he made Chahal his bunny because he feels more confident against leg-spinner. He said, “It wasn’t planned. But the way the seamers bowled, the cutters, they’ve got very, very good skills as I have said before, I just fancied my chances more against the leggie, had more options against him, so when I got the first two boundaries, I thought this is the over [13th over] I got to target. Maybe if I can get 20-odd in this over.”
It wasn’t the first time that Klaasen had hammered Indian spinners. He did the same in the 4th ODI at Wanderers in a rain-affected match. On Thursday, similar series events occurred and the match saw a fair bit of drizzle which helped South Africa in the chase. Talking about the same, Henrich said, “At some stage, it actually drizzled quite hard. The first five or six overs, we actually tried to keep up with Duckworth-Lewis. Luckily on the fifth or the sixth over, the drizzle stopped.”
Also read: Unadkat gets KlaasenSpeaking about his rising form, Klaasen said that he is enjoying his time in the middle. He said, “If you look at Quinny [Quinton de Kock], AB [de Villiers] and Faf [du Plessis] and with Temba [Bavuma] coming back as well. They are world-class players. So, in some sort, to put my name on that list as well. It is definitely a very important stage of my career. But if this is my last game, the weekend one, so be it, I am happy with it. My dream is fulfilled. Now it becomes a job.”
