Klaasen: Duminy took fear out of my game

Heinrich Klaasen credits JP Duminy for his Man of the Match knock in the Proteas’ six-wicket win against India at Centurion on Wednesday.

South Africa needed a big performance in the second T20I and they certainly delivered. The mixture of freshness and experience blended perfectly.

The outcome was decided by a brilliant 93-run partnership between Klaasen and Duminy, which turned the game in the home side’s favour.

Klaasen truly shone to level the three-match series for the Proteas. His 69 came off 30 balls (3×4, 7×6) and helped his team climb from 38-2 to 131-3.

Duminy definitely played his part in Klaasen’s performance. Beside’s contributing with a half-century of his own, the way he supported his strike partner was key.

The Proteas captain played a delightful innings. He shifted from a supporting role that kept Klaasen on strike, to talisman, which saw him hit two sixes in the 19th over to hand the Proteas their victory.

Klaasen praised Duminy’s influence on his performance.

‘He was the key factor to my whole innings,’ said Klaasen. ‘In the second or first over I faced he told me, “This over needs to go for 10.” This told me to just play my normal game and take the bowlers on. So luckily it worked out today.

‘The way JP said it, “this over needs to go for 10”, took all the fear out of my game,’ he added. ‘Then it’s very important to keep a calm head. There was a stage I was swinging quite hard and I said to myself, “maybe take a one, relax a little bit, the next over is very important as well.”

‘It’s very important to keep that momentum, especially chasing 10 runs an over the whole time. It’s almost two boundaries an over. They are very skilful bowlers so it’s not easy getting a run a ball.’

The Proteas’ win has set up a ‘final’ at Newlands on Saturday to end India’s tour.