Cuttack:
South Africa wicket-keeper batter scored highest individual score by a Proteas batter against India during the second T20I of the five-match series against India at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.
In the match, Klaasen, who scored 81 off 46 with seven fours and five sixes, had arrived at the crease with his team in deep trouble at 29/3 at the end of the powerplay. Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar had shaken the Proteas batting with his bowling.
After registering a four-wicket over India in the second T20I of the five-match series, South Africa batter David Miller lavished praise on fellow teammate Heinrich Klaasen for his ‘phenomenal’ knock.
An explosive knock from Klaasen (81) powered South Africa to a four-wicket win over India in the second T20I of the five-match series at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday. “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 up front 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,” said Miller in a post-match presentation.
“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,” he added.
It was a poor day for India on the field as they could not do a lot with the bat on a difficult surface and despite Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s heroics in the powerplay, they could not sustain the momentum and gave Proteas a 2-0 lead.
“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,” said Miller. Both the teams will be squaring off for the third T20I on Tuesday at Vishakhapatnam.
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