Follow UsNew York has proven to be an anomaly in terms of how T20 pitches should be prepared - with the wicket being extremely skewed in favour of bowlers. After Pakistan failed to chase 119 runs a couple of nights ago, South Africa defended 113 runs against Bangladesh.
This has truly needed the batters to reconfigure their mindsets on this wicket, and as Heinrich Klaasen revealed after the game, their mindsets are not even close to how they normally would in a T20 game. Applauding David Miller, who scored a patient 38-ball 29 to steer South Africa to safety, Klaasen said that’s how batters should approach the New York surface.
“David showed us in the previous game how to bat on this wicket and it's almost a similar way that we bat in the middle or in a one-day game. So, our mindset is not even close to T20 cricket. You just want to get in and find a way to bat at a run-a-ball. And we know you're one or two hits away just for going over the run-a-ball strike rate,” Klaasen said in the post-match press conference.
“I saw India and Pakistan yesterday. Even two great teams struggled to get to 120. So that just means that we have to change our mindset completely. You can't just stand there and smack it all over the park. So, we had more or less of a one-day mindset today. So, and David in the middle, and that seemed to be working. And then, the last three overs, we looked to take the game on a little bit more T20 style.”
Klaasen was a part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad unit that lost the finals to Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2024, and in the tournament, scoring 250 had almost become a norm. Adjusting to surfaces like New York almost immediately would be weird, something Klaasen admitted, but also added that having low-scoring games means smaller teams comes into contention too.
“It's a big change you see scores there - well it was a month and a half ago we were part of a score that's 270 - 260 so it's well off, but it's part of the game. You still have to win the game so the smarter teams and the way the guys have to bat, we have to adapt. It doesn't look like the Caribbean wickets are too much better. So, we have to play smart cricket and use our cricket brain a little bit more.
“It's still good cricket for the cricket lovers that's out there. Obviously, if you have to showcase it to the world and sell it, I don't think it's a great selling product, but for cricket, it's tight competition. It brings the other teams and the higher teams very close to each other, so the game is open to any team that does the basics of cricket very well.
“For us, it's very nerve-wracking because every game becomes a really big game. There are no easy games for us, especially in our group. So, it's still good entertaining cricket. Everyone is on the edge of their seat and any team can beat any team on the down this on this field,” the South African finisher added.
With the wicket behaving as it is, Klaasen added that all batters are keen to get out of USA and land in the Caribbean for the business end of the tournament. With three wins already, South Africa, in a way, have already set feet on Caribbbean.
"I think all the batters are keen to get out of this place, to be fair. The bowlers would love to stay here but - no we've done our job that was the goal to win three out of three here. Obviously, it was a little bit harder than what we thought, but that's also good preparation for going into the next phase of this competition. We've dealt with pressure very well in this three games and it's always good experience and you can put it in a notebook and always go back when the tough times are there again," Klaasen added.
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