Rassie van der Dussen was one of the heroes for the South African cricket team in their epic run-chase against the Indian cricket team. The tall batter scored 74 runs to help the visitors gain a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series against the Indian cricket team. Fans should note that Rassie did not get off to a good start with the bat.
In fact, before the 17th over of the South African cricket team’s innings, he had scored only 30 runs from 32 balls. His strike rate was less than 100, but he switched gears quickly and ended up scoring 75 runs off 46 balls. He scored 45 runs from just 14 balls and helped the Proteas pull off their highest successful run-chase in T20I cricket.
Speaking with the host broadcasters after the match, Rassie van der Dussen shared his thoughts on his innings and was quoted as saying as follows by Sportskeeda:
“I always knew I was just two boundaries away. It was not because of a lack of intent. Sometimes, it just does not come off. In these phases, you have to be mentally tough. Avesh put me under a lot of pressure and did not miss his mark at all. David played so well and pulled me through that patch.”
Rassie van der Dussen destroyed Harshal Patel in the 17th over
As mentioned by van der Dussen in the post-match interview, he could not score big runs off Avesh Khan’s bowling, but he enjoyed facing Harshal Patel in the middle. The 17th over of the innings was bowled by Harshal, where van der Dussen smashed three sixes and a four to turn the game upside down.
The required run rate came down from 14 to 11.33. He then smashed two back-to-back fours off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling as South Africa chased the 212-run target down eventually.
