A Klaasen Classic
What made it special was that the ton came in oppressive conditions
On February 29 2020, Paarl was unseasonably hot and heavy smoke hung over Cape Town. The Du Toitskloof Pass fire had been raging for four days, fuelled by strong winds, and firefighters had been battling to get it under control. Just over 18 km away from the heart of the fire, South Africa’s batters were battling to stabilize their batting innings.
When Heinrich Klaasen arrived at the crease, his first responsibility was to firefight. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood and Pat Cummins were running riot and had reduced the hosts to 48/3 in the 10th over. He constructed a 78-run partnership with Kyle Verreynne to get the innings under control before he joined hands with David Miller for a 149-run stand that allowed South Africa to aim for 300.
Between the heat, polluted air and Australia’s bowling, Klaasen’s maiden ODI century, an unbeaten 123 off 114 balls, was hard-earned. “It was one of the most difficult centuries I have scored,” he would say years later.
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In the years between his maiden and fourth ODI tons, Klaasen got married, contracted a strain of Covid that made him think he would never play cricket again, became a father, fell out of love and rediscovered his love for cricket… His falling out of love was not due to depression. He just wasn’t enjoying the game anymore. It was the second time in his career he had considered walking away. The first time the thought crossed his mind, he was an up-and-coming player who struggled to secure a place in the Titans team.
When the opportunity came, he scored 140 in a T20 match. But, that didn’t count because the Titans was at the bottom of the table and the century did not change their fortunes. So, no one paid him much attention, besides Rob Walter, who had a chat with him and asked the young man to give cricket another year. One year turned into two and the rest is history.
The other thing that has happened between the first and fourth ton has been that Klaasen reworked his swing with the help of Albie Morkel. He has always possessed the ability to cross the ropes, but with his shiny new swing, Klaasen is almost guaranteed to do so 9 out of 10 times he tries to hit a six. “As long as your swing is good, you know you can hit the ball a long way,” says Klaasen.
42.1 overs into their World Cup match against England, Klaasen rocked onto the back-foot and pulled the ball while swivelling. He deposited Adil Rashid’s googly ten rows into the crowd. Most batters punch that delivery for a single. This shot is a Klaasen special that turns a good ball into a bad one. With it, he turns a length ball into a short delivery in a way no one else can. Klaasen does it because of his new swing and its plane.
There was a sense of deja vu for Heinrich Klaasen. As he did against Australia in 2020, he had to dig deep to get to three figures. The six off Rashid’s bowling took him to 64 off 45 balls. By the end of that Rashid over, he was unable to run twos. The Mumbai heat was taking its toll. A couple of overs later, he could barely cross over for singles. He was knackered.
When I asked Heinrich Klaasen who his dream batting partners are, he offered a short list. Farhaan Behardien, Heino Kuhn and David Miller. In 2016, Heinrich Klaasen and Farhaan Behardien bludgeoned 72 runs off 24 deliveries in a rain-affected match that was reduced to five overs a side. Klaasen contributed 17 runs off nine balls.
“It was an unbelievable innings, just to see how Fudgie operated. He was a true impact player. Him and Heino Kuhn are the players I looked at at the start of my career. I enjoyed batting with them because I felt like the way they operated, their intensity, was something I aspired to,” says Klaasen.
When he made his ODI debut, Klaasen took a liking to batting with David Miller. “I think I saw a stat the other day, David Miller and I are averaging 60 when we bat together,” he told me a couple of years ago. “It's enjoyable how he can take the pressure off of me and vice versa,” says Klaasen.
In 2020, against Australia, Klaasen had David Miller. They fed off each other under difficult circumstances. “You need to know your partner as well to keep the pressure off him and know when they want to rotate the strike and all those types of things that can make them comfortable to get the best value out of them,” says Klaasen.
At the Wankhede, the Klaasen-Miller combination added 10 runs off nine balls. Suddenly things were looking bleak for South Africa. 350 was looking a long way off. No one counted on Marco Jansen carrying Klaasen through the innings. But, that’s what the left-arm pacer did.
When Klaasen thought he couldn’t take another step, Marco Jansen kept him going. At one point, the young allrounder told Klaasen that he would not allow him to walk off the field unless he scored a century. “I told him I can’t run anymore. Marco said, ‘It’s fine. Just give me 100% each time you face the ball,’” says Klaasen.
Tired and unable to run, Klaasen gave his all by placing trust in his new swing and Jansen. He used whatever energy he could summon from within him to slam 150 km/h bowling around the ground. “We were breathing in hot air. Every time you try to run it's sapping more and more energy. At the end of the day, your body doesn’t want to work with you anymore. It’s like running in a sauna for the whole innings,” says Klaasen.
And just as Klaasen was fading, Jansen stepped up and seized control of the game to take the pressure off his older partner. Jansen scored 11 runs off the first 19 balls he faced and then hammered 64 off the next 23 deliveries. Their sixth-wicket stand was a study in carnage. They scored 156 off 77 balls. 79 of those runs came off the last four overs.
“We count on each other,” said Klaasen in the post-match presser. It’s safe to say Jansen is now on the list of batters he enjoys batting with. Their partnership had moments of magic.
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Thanks for reading. Until next time… - CS