Heinrich Klaasen embodied the fighting spirit associated with South Africans when he scored a century in extreme heat in Mumbai to help the Proteas smash England by a stunning 229 runs on Saturday.
Sent in to bat first, the Proteas posted 399/7 after being sent in to bat, before bowling out England for just 170 runs inside 22 overs.
Explaining the heat and humidity they faced as running “in a sauna”, Klaasen says: “It’s like just breathing in hot air and every time you try to run it’s just sapping more and more energy...”
🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 RAISE YOUR FLAG
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) October 21, 2023
A statement win for the Proteas as they a notch 229 victory over England 🏏
One down on to you @Springboks🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 we are fully behind YOU 🫂 #CWC23 #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/P2WYANYfwo
Klaasen batted for 119 minutes for his 109 off 67 balls and shared a superb 151-run seventh wicket partnership with Marco Jansen (75* off 42).
And while he ran out of steam, Klaasen says of their partnership: “He [Jansen] told me 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 percent every time you face the ball…”
Reeza Hendricks (85 off 75), Rassie van der Dussen (60 off 61) and captain Aiden Markram (42 off 44) got the Proteas off to a good start and following the batsmen’s heroics, it was down to the bowlers to do their thing.
And they didn’t disappoint.
💯 KLAASEN WITH A TON
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) October 21, 2023
Heinrich Klaasen you BEAUTY 😍
You deserve the applause 👏 #CWC23 #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/cDljXh5WB4
Gerald Coetzee (3/35), Lungi Ngidi (2/26) and Jansen (2/35) ripped through the English batting lineup with great ease, as SA bounced back from their shock defeat to Netherlands last week.
In the weekend’s other matches, Australia beat Pakistan by 62 runs on Friday, Sri Lanka klapped Netherlands by five wickets on Saturday and India beat New Zealand by 4 runs on Sunday.
SA, meanwhile, next face Bangladesh on Tuesday.
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za