Rassie van der Dussen starred with the bat during the first T20I between India and South Africa in New Delhi on Thursday (May 9). The right-handed batsman scored an unbeaten fifty to help his team thrash the hosts by 7 wickets.
Chasing a mammoth total of 212, the Proteas were reeling at 81 for 3 when van der Dussen and David Miller joined hands. The duo went on to share an unbeaten stand of 131 runs to take their team home in style. Van der Dussen top-scored for his team, scoring 75 off 46 balls while Miller slammed 64 off just 31 balls.
During his match-winning knock, van der Dussen changed the course of the game in the 17th over of the game when he was up against Harshal Patel. With 56 runs needed from 4 overs, South Africa’s chances of winning the game was not looking good. Stand-in captain Rishabh Pant handed the ball to Harshal who had given away 15 runs in his first two overs in addition to dismissing the dangerous Dwaine Pretorius.
Rassie van der Dussen on Harshal Patel:
In recent times, Harshal has earned accolades from several quarters for his death bowling. His reputation, however, did not make much of a difference against van der Dussen as the latter took him to the cleaners in the 17th over.
The South Africa star smashed the India pacer for two back-to-back sixes followed by a four and another six. While Harshal managed to bowl two dot balls, he ended up conceding 22 in the over. That particular over changed the course of the game as the Proteas went on to chase down the total with 5 balls remaining.
After the end of the game, van der Dussen spoke about Harshal and praised him for his performance in the IPL. He was all praise for the pacer’s slower ball before explaining his strategy against him.
“I’ve been watching him. All IPL he has been brilliant. He has such a good slower ball. So I knew after getting those first two sixes away he has to go to his slower balls. And then it’s a matter of picking it and keeping your head still and try and execute it – it’s a very tough ball to hit.
“He gets a lot of energy on it, he gets a lot of depth on it. But he’s only human, so you know at some stage he’s probably going to miss,” he said.
The second match of the five-match series will take place on 12 June in Cuttack. The Men in Blue will be desperate to bounce back and draw level in the series in the upcoming game.