South African cricketer Rassie Van Der Dussen expressed that he wanted to make the most of the dropped chance against India in the first T20I on Thursday at the Arun Jaitely Stadium in Delhi. He played a match-winning knock to power South Africa to a seven-wicket win.
Chasing 212 runs, Rassie Van Der Dussen walked out to bat when the Proteas were 61 for two down. In the 16th over, he got a lifeline when Shreyas Iyer dropped his catch when he was on 29 off 30 balls. Avesh Khan bowled a short slower delivery wide outside off stump.
The batter tried to drag it to the leg side but hit it straight to Shreyas Iyer at deep mid-wicket. However, Iyer could not hold onto the catch, giving the Proteas batter a reprieve. Rassie Van Der Dussen then took on the attack to the opposition and remained unbeaten on 75 off 46 balls. David Miller also scored an unbeaten 64 and won the Player of the Match award.
Speaking about his knock, Rassie Van Der Dussen said as quoted by News18:
“The key for me was that when that catch was dropped, I knew I had to make India pay. I took a good few balls to get in and it was a wicket that got a lot easier once you were in. It was tough to get yourself set. I knew I was in and I had to make them pay. I did put myself and the team under pressure by not being able to hit early boundaries.”
“Sometimes your approach just doesn’t come off and other days it does. Some days you’re lucky, others you’re not. And tonight I was lucky. If Shreyas had caught that ball, it might’ve been a different game,” he added.
Simply sensational 🔥#INDvSA #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/UWJsxRWuLq
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) June 9, 2022
David Miller helped pull me through a difficult phase of my innings: Rassie Van Der Dussen
Rassie Van Der Dussen also spoke about his partnership with David Millier in the middle. The duo added 131 runs for the fourth wicket to take South Africa home comfortably. Van Der Dussen expressed that Millier helped him to pull off a difficult phase in the match. While praising his team-mate, he said
“David just brought his form from the IPL straight into this game. He put the bowlers under pressure from the start. He played a brilliant inning and also just helped pull me through that difficult phase of my innings. Once he hit those consecutive sixes, the momentum shifted our way. We knew if we took this game to the end, we’d get close.”
The second T20I between India and South Africa will be played at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday, June 12. South Africa leading the five-match T20I series 1-0.
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