‘I’ve been watchig him a lot in IPL…': South Africa's Rassie van der Dussen on tackling Harshal Patel
Rassie van der Dussen got a new lease of life, quite literally, and went on to hit 45 in his next 15 balls to turn the match on its head. Dussen said he wanted to make India "pay" after Iyer dropped him.
Rassie van der Dussen was batting on 29 off 30 balls and South Africa needed 63 off 29 balls when the right-hander pulled an Avesh Khan short of a good length straight to the deep mid-wicket region where Shreyas Iyer, one of India's best fielders, was standing. What Iyer would have gobbled up nine out of 10 times, burst straight through his hands. There was a stunned silence at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Dussen crossed over for a single. This turned out to be one of the most important moments in the game in which more than 420 runs were scored.
Dussen got a new lease of life, quite literally, and went on to hit 45 in his next 15 balls to turn the match on its head. Dussen said he wanted to make India "pay" after Iyer dropped him. "When Shreyas dropped it, I knew I had to make them pay because I took the balls to get myself in," van der Dussen said after South Africa beat India by 7 wickets.
Dussen was unbeaten on 75 off 46 balls and his unbeaten 141-run stand with Player of the Match David Miller (64* off 31) was the main reason behind South Africa's highest successful run-chase in T20Is.
Dussen was struggling at the start of his innings but he said it was not due "lack of intent".
"I think I had put myself and the team under a bit of pressure by not being able to get boundaries early on in my innings," van der Dussen said. "But it wasn't through lack of intent, or lack of planning, or lack of clarity of mind. You know, sometimes it just doesn't come off."
The right-hander, who was a part of the Rajasthan Royals squad in IPL 2022, hit Harshal Patel for three sixes and a four in the 17th over that completely swung the momentum towards South Africa.
"I've been watching him a lot in the IPL, he has been brilliant," van der Dussen said. "He has got such a good slower ball. So after getting those first two sixes away, I knew he has to go to his slower balls. But still you have to execute. It's a very tough ball to hit as he gets a lot of dip on it. But again, he is only human and you know that at some stage, he is probably going to miss."