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‘Brutal Out There…,’ Heinrich Klaasen After Match-Winning Ton vs ENG At World Cup 2023

image-lo07u147Heinrich Klaasen struggled with humidity towards the end of his innings (AP)

Heinrich Klaasen scorched defending champions England by smearing 109 scintillating runs to revive South Africa’s World Cup 2023 campaign in Mumbai. The cricketer bludgeoned 12 boundaries and four sixes, and shared 151 runs from just 76 deliveries with Marco Jansen for the sixth wicket.

Klaasen’s thunderous ton eventually catapulted South Africa’s total to a colossal 399-7, which proved 229 runs enough of England’s best run-chase effort in the evening.

Heinrich Klaasen reflects on maiden World Cup ton

Heinrich Klaasen, for producing 109 rapid runs from just 67 balls, was fittingly adjudged as ‘Player of the Match’. Remarkably, his partner in destruction Marco Jansen himself unleashed a 75-run fury from 42 balls and even claimed two English wickets in the evening.

At the post-match presentation ceremony, Klaasen attributed Jansen for encouraging him to get to his century, and even claimed that the bowling all-rounder deserved the award more than him. He also credited Jansen for improving his batting and coming up trumps against a champion side under extreme Mumbai heat. He said:

“I think this award needs to go to Marco Jansen. He kept me going. He told me that he's got me today and I can't walk off the field unless I get 100. But he's been phenomenal. He's been working so hard on his batting, and for him to come off like that under the pressure, under the heat, scoring the runs that he did is so vital for us. And this award actually needs to go to him.”

Klaasen also described his innings as one of his best ever because of the weather conditions. The cricketer claimed that he reserved his strength by not running enough because the heat during match-time was too extreme to bear.

“Yeah, it's up there with my best ever. I've been reading the ball nicely, but the conditions were brutal out there today. So it goes down as one of my better ones. It's just proper heat, sapped out all the energy. Was told to not run my runs too hard, to save energy cos the heat out is extreme.”

The 32-year-old further praised team effort for their World Cup 2023 performance, and claimed that their shock defeat at the hands of Netherlands does not mean they are suddenly a bad team.

“Yeah, that was a tough loss, but we know we're playing good cricket. One bad performance doesn't make up a bad team.”

Heinrick Klaasen and the rest of his South African teammates will now turn up against Bangladesh on October 24. The much-awaited contest will also be played out at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.