South African power-hitter Heinrich Klaasen had a humorous take on the travel schedule ahead of their 2025 Champions Trophy semifinal against New Zealand in Lahore on March 5. Just days before the match, the wicketkeeper-batter joked about enjoying a ‘steak’ in Dubai.
The Proteas had traveled to the Middle East amid uncertainty over the semifinal venues, as the Group A table toppers were yet to be confirmed. Notably, India has played all its matches in Dubai due to geopolitical tensions with Pakistan.
Temba Bavuma’s squad later departed for Lahore to face New Zealand. Speaking about the travel schedule, Klaasen commented (via ‘iol.co.za’):
“Look, we knew that was a big possibility that we might fly up and down. So yeah, there’s nothing really too (un)common about it. It’s not ideal for the bodies, but at least we had some time to get out and walk around and get loose. I actually just had some nice steak to be fair.”
“But other than that, we knew it’s going to happen and it’s part of the scheduling. So two teams had to do it and unfortunately, we were one of them. We haven’t really travelled a lot in this competition. It was obviously just a crazy 18 hours, to be fair,” he added.
“South Africa’s Fitness Gives Edge Over New Zealand in CT 2025 Semifinal”- Heinrich Klaasen
Heinrich Klaasen also stated that the Proteas hold an advantage over the Kiwis in terms of rest, thanks to their travel schedule before the Champions Trophy semifinal. The 33-year-old mentioned this during the same discussion:
“But both the teams playing in Lahore, they (New Zealand) played a game and they had to travel six hours after the game. We at least had time off to spread our legs and just recover as well before we had to come back. So, in that aspect, there’s not a lot of difference.”
“I think our bodies will be in a better position than their bodies. But mainly, it’s part of professional cricket at this moment and you just have to suck it up and go back and see if you can recover well and just get the job done at the end of the day,” he added.
South Africa and New Zealand played their last group matches on March 1 and 2, respectively. Klaasen noted the Proteas’ comfort in knockouts, citing the 2024 T20 WC final.
“I think the nerves are a little bit less because we have a little bit more experience in the semi-final department now, The boys are holding a little bit more composure in the bigger moments in the game. So hopefully we can get into another final. We’ve got the experience now and the big boys need to step up on Wednesday.”
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