Heinrich Klaasen celebrates his century during the ODI World Cup 2023 match between England and South Africa at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on October 21, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI

For a nation that has never won the 50-over World Cup despite producing some of the best players and teams, South Africa look determined to go the distance in this edition, shedding the ‘chokers’ tag.

With one 400-plus and another near-400 total to their credit and a massive 229-run win over reigning champions England, South Africa have made a strong statement ahead of the fixtures against New Zealand and India.

Heinrich Klaasen, who smashed a 67-ball 109 against England, viewed those two matches as a perfect occasion for his side to deliver in a high-pressure situation, often termed the Achilles Heel of South African teams.

“Our World Cup performances, everyone, obviously, has got their tag over us but we have played some good cricket. We’ve been unlucky, and obviously, we did not execute on certain games,” Klaasen told the media here on Saturday.

“But if you look at our games that we have played, we have played some very, very good cricket in the World Cup (history). It is not a surprise that we are playing good cricket.”

“This group has been playing good cricket for the last three years now. We’ve been maturing nicely. It is our time to really try to make a big statement for the world, that South Africans are very good under pressure. We have done it before,” Klaasen said.

The wicketkeeper-batter, who struck his third hundred of the year, described the conditions in Mumbai as excruciating.

Klaasen cracked 12 fours and four sixes during his innings, and the effort under the sweltering heat and humidity in the city has left him a drained man.

“It ranks up to one of my better hundreds purely on the conditions that were out there. I really had to dig deep mentally. Physically, I was not in a good space, but mentally I had to dig very deep there,” Klaasen said.

“It is like just breathing in hot air and every time you try to run it is just sapping more and more energy and then at the end of the day, your body just does not want to work with you anymore,” he said.

“It is like almost running in a sauna for the whole innings, which is what we obviously prepare for and we are used to these conditions. But it still takes a lot out of the body,” he added.

Klaasen revealed the warning Marco Jansen, his partner for England demolition job, served when they met in the middle.

Klaasen and Jansen hammered 151 runs for the sixth wicket — a record for South Africa.

“Marco has been working extremely hard on his batting and he is taking a lot of pride in his death hitting as well. He has been disappointed in a couple of the innings that he did not really pull through,” the 32-year-old said.

Klaasen added, “He told me that he has got me and that I am not allowed to walk off the field if I don’t score 100. I told him, but I can’t run and he said, it’s fine, just give me 100% every time you face the ball,” Klaasen said.

The Transvaal man was also full of praise for Reeza Hendricks, who made a huge impact on the game by scoring 85 at the top order.

Hendricks was a last-minute replacement for South Africa captain Temba Bavuma who fell ill.

“Reeza got a late call, I think it was about 10 minutes before, 5 minutes before the coin toss that Temba is down. And to perform like that, and the couple of the shots that he played under pressure shows where we are as a South African cricket group,” Klaasen said.

England’s Gus Atkinson bowled during ICC Cricket World Cup Match 20 between South Africa and England at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

It was a hot and humid Saturday afternoon. A near-capacity turnout at the Wankhede Stadium made it even more piping. While South Africa turned up in red-hot form, England wilted under the sun in the much-anticipated high-voltage clash which turned into a lopsided affair.

Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen’s blitzkrieg in the last 10 overs meant South Africa put on 399 for seven, the highest-ever ODI total against England and the second-highest at the venue.

Had it not been for Mark Wood wielding the long handle after the Proteas’ pace attack had taken the fizz out of the chase, England would have folded up for a total less than the 143 runs South Africa hammered in the last 10 overs.

Cricket World Cup | SAF vs ENG — As it happened

It was a hot and humid Saturday afternoon. A near-capacity turnout at the Wankhede Stadium made it even more piping. While South Africa turned up in red-hot form, England wilted under the sun in the much-anticipated high-voltage clash which turned into a lopsided affair.

Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen’s blitzkrieg in the last 10 overs meant South Africa put on 399 for seven, the highest-ever ODI total against England and the second-highest at the venue.

Had it not been for Mark Wood wielding the long handle after the Proteas’ pace attack had taken the fizz out of the chase, England would have folded up for a total less than the 143 runs South Africa hammered in the last 10 overs.

Even before Jansen starred with the new ball to run through England’s top-order and virtually seal the result, it was his batting exploits in a murderous partnership with Klaasen that did the trick for his team.

Captain Temba Bavuma was ruled out due a stomach bug minutes before the toss. Reeza Hendricks converted the loss into a blessing, adding 120 with Rassie van Dussen after Quinton de Kock perished to Topley in the opening over of the game.

The stand-in captain Aiden Markram continued to build on the good work, first with Hendricks before he missed out on a deserving hundred and later with Klaasen.

But when Topley returned from an injury break to dismiss Markram and David Miller in successive overs, England would have hoped to restrict South Africa to a total well below the eventual one.

While Jansen took time to get his eye in, Klaasen started opening his shoulders up.

He drove, cut and pulled with aplomb. And once Jansen started wielded his long handle, an already rattled England bowling unit — beset with injuries, ailments and the heat — was found clueless.

Scoreboard

South Africa innings: Quinton de Kock (wk) c Jos Buttler b R Topley 4 Reeza Hendricks b Adil Rashid 85 Rassie van der Dussen c Bairstow b Adil Rashid 60 Aiden Markram (c) c Bairstow b R Topley 42 Heinrich Klaasen b Gus Atkinson 109 David Miller c Stokes b R Topley 5 Marco Jansen not out 75 Gerald Coetzee c (sub) Livingstone b Gus Atkinson 3 Keshav Maharaj not out 1 Extras: (b 2, lb 3, w 9, nb 1) 15 Total: (For 7 wickets in 50 Ov) 399

Fall of Wickets: 4-1, 125-2, 164-3, 233-4, 243-5, 394-6, 398-7

Bowlers: Reece Topley 8.5-0-88-3, David Willey 9-1-61-0, Joe Root 6.1-0-48-0, Gus Atkinson 9-0-60-2, Mark Wood 7-0-76-0, Adil Rashid 10-0-61-2.

England innings: Jonny Bairstow c van der Dussen b Lungi Ngidi 10 Dawid Malan c de Kock b Marco Jansen 6 Joe Root c Miller b Marco Jansen 2 Ben Stokes c and b Rabada 5 Harry Brook lbw b Gerald Coetzee 17 Jos Buttler (c & wk) c de Kock b Gerald Coetzee 15 David Willey c Rabada b Lungi Ngidi 12 Adil Rashid c Reeza Hendricks b Gerald Coetzee 10 Gus Atkinson b Maharaj 35 Mark Wood not out 43 Reece Topley abs hurt 0 Extras: (b 0, lb 9, w 5, nb 1) 15 Total: (All out in 22 overs) 170

Fall of Wickets: 18-1, 23-2, 24-3, 38-4, 67-5, 68-6, 84-7, 100-8, 170-9

Bowlers: Lungi Ngidi 5-1-26-2, Marco Jansen 5-0-35-2, Kagiso Rabada 6-1-38-1, Gerald Coetzee 4-0-35-3, Keshav Maharaj 2-0-27-1.