 "World Cup 2023: This will beone of my better ones, says Klaasen after 100")
After South Africa clinched a stellar 229-run win against England in the 20th match of the ODI World Cup at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, the Proteas star player Heinrich Klaasen said that his 109-run knock in 67 balls will go down as one of his best batting performance.
While speaking at the post-match ceremony, Klaasen was named the Player of the Match and said that the heat in Mumbai was extreme.
Klaasen added that Jansen should have gotten the Player of the Match award since he kept Klaasen going and pumped him.
He further stated that the loss against the Netherlands was a tough one but he was happy with a 229-run win against the English side.
"One of my best (knocks) ever, I was hitting the ball nicely, this knock will go down as one of my better ones. It was proper heat, saps all the energy out of you. The heat out there was extreme. They (England) were physically under the pump but a couple of wickets got them back in. Next level (Jansen's knock). This award needs to go to him (Jansen). He kept me going and pumped me up saying you are not leaving the ground without a 100. He has been phenomenal and has been batting so well. The runs he scored were so vital for us. That loss (against Netherlands) was a tough one, but we know we are playing good cricket. One loss doesn't make us a bad team. Had some chats and our boys bounced back with the training sessions. It was a fantastic performance today," Heinrich Klaasen said.
On the other hand, England skipper Jos Buttler said that lots of things didn't go to plan in the first innings.
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Even Buttler said that it was very tough to play under the heat and further stated that the English side needed to get off to a very good start.
"Incredibly disappointing. We were well beaten. We have come here to play our best cricket. Lots of things didn't go to plan in the first innings. Reece picked up the injury. The boys fought hard. We could have restricted it to 340-350, which could have been a good chase. Incredibly tough under the heat. Could have been a good chase had we gotten off to a good start. The humidity was one of the challenges. Was tough. We needed to get off to a very good start. A couple of dismissals down the leg side didn't help. Leaves us with no room for error. Need to win every game from here on," Jos Buttler said.
Coming to the match between South Africa and England, South Africa displayed a powerful performance in the first inning. Reeza Hendrick played an 85-run knock after opening for the Proteas. Van der Dussen also scored 60 runs. But Klaasen's iconic knock deserved all the limelight.
The English had a disappointing performance in the game. They failed to keep the run rate in check and take early wickets.
In the second inning, Gerald Coetzee led the Proteas' bowling attack and dismissed the English batting lineup at 170 runs by 22 overs.
Lungi Ngidi and Lungi Ngidi picked up two wickets each in their respective spells. Meanwhile, Coetzee scalped three wickets. On the other hand, Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj took one wicket each.