South Africa all-rounder Nadine de Klerk lauded the team’s calculated approach as they stunned India in the ICC World Cup on Thursday.
She highlighted her pivotal partnership with Chloe Tryon, which saw the team through chasing a challenging 250-run target.
Speaking on the victory over the hosts, De Klerk said, “I think we just played smart cricket. Chloe and I just tried to take it really deep.”
“We knew that if we had to get 40 of the last four and the two of us were still batting, that we could get it. So, it was just about building that partnership, getting ourselves in and then taking especially the pacers down.
“And that was always the plan to try to take the pacers down, which was much easier on that surface. We were pretty confident in chasing 250. I think we made it a bit harder for ourselves than we would have liked. There are a lot of positives, and I’m glad we got over the line today,” she added.
Number eight De Klerk tore into the opposition attack in her 54-ball blitz as South Africa reached 252-7 with seven balls to spare while chasing India’s 251 in Visakhapatnam.
De Klerk’s knock combined brute power with exquisite wrist work as she hit eight fours and five sixes, including the winning hit over the fence.
“It got a bit trickier when (Chloe) got out, but I guess it’s just about the belief and the character at the end of the day, and we just wanted to stick it out and fight really hard because we knew how important this game was for our team,” she said.
“Really glad we got over the line.”
South Africa slipped to 81-5 in their chase but captain Laura Wolvaardt’s patient 70 kept them afloat before De Klerk joined Chloe Tryon to swing the momentum.
Tryon’s brisk 49, and De Klerk’s fearless strokeplay, turned the contest decisively in South Africa’s favour.
The pair added 69 for the seventh wicket before Tryon fell, but by then the required run-rate was under control for De Klerk to finish in style.
Earlier, India’s top-order faltered once again against left-arm spin and they slipped to 102-6 after Nonkululeko Mlaba and Tryon rattled the batting.
India’s batters have now scored only 257 runs off 348 balls against left-arm spinners in this tournament — losing 12 wickets at an average of 21.41, the most dismissals by any team.
The Proteas are now, at least momentarily, inside the top four on the standings, behind only Australia, England and India. They now have a four-day break before their meeting with Bangladesh in Visakhapatnam.