IND vs SA: I knew we had to target their spinners, says Heinrich Klaasen

Heinrich Klaasen during his 81 off 46 balls in the 2nd T20I at Cuttack

South Africa wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen hopes his match-winning effort against India in the second T20 helps him prolong his international career.

Dropped after the T20 World Cup last year, Klaasen also found himself out of the ODI side and also lost his central contract. He would not have got a look-in had Quinton de Kock not injured his wrist before the game on Sunday. The 30-year-old grabbed his chance and took the game away from India with his fiery 46-ball 81, his career-best T20 score. "It was difficult [pitch] to bat. I found myself struggling up front. Then I decided if I go out today I would rather go my way and try to be positive. It's just one of those days that it came off," he said at the post-match media interaction.

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"It's a blessing from above that this innings came at this time for me in my career. That puts me on the map ahead of international cricket. So, hopefully this will just prolong my career a little bit longer."

He said he got an indication about playing a couple of days back after de Kock injured his hand and it was on the eve of the match he was confirmed a place in the XI.

From four off 12 balls, Klaasen stepped it up against the Indian spinners and completed his 50 off just 32 balls. "I knew we needed to target the spinners. The seamers had a little bit up and down so we can take a little bit less risk against them and it came off today," he added.

To his advantage, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who returned with magical figures of 4-13, was taken out of the attack after his triple blow up front.
Bhuvneshwar returned only in the 18th over and by then Klaasen had virtually sealed it for the visitors.

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