IND vs SA: "Was Important To Show Intent From The Start" - Rassie Van der Dussen On His Unbeaten Knock

Rassie Van der Dussen’s unbeaten 129 helped him earn the Man of the Match award as South Africa beat India by 31 runs in the first ODI in Paarl on Wednesday, January 19. It was his second ODI ton, which turned out to be a memorable one leading his team to victory. The hosts courtesy of this win take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Speaking at the post-match presentation after the game, Rassie Van der Dussen spoke about how he built the innings and what led to his partnership with Temba Bavuma (110). South Africa posted a competitive 296/4 courtesy of the 204-run stand between Dussen and Bavuma.

“The key for me was to keep the intensity and up the intensity. I went in and I knew I had to go to my sweeps and reverse-sweeps and put the pressure back on their spinners. It was important to show intent from the start. We got some momentum and put on a good score. Coming in today, we were in a bit of pressure. You need to stand up as a batter” said the South African middle-order batsmen.

Dussen further said that they were a confident bunch of players heading into this ODI series having won the Test series 2-1. He also highlighted the work that has gone behind the scenes behind building this team with some new players in the last couple of years.

We Have Been On A Long Journey With This Team: Rassie Van der Dussen

” Hopefully we can be more clinical in the future. We’ve been on a long journey with this team. We’ve put a lot of hard work in and had a lot of good chats. I think it’s coming through” he added.

Rassie Van der Dussen said that they were a bit tensed with Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan adding a 92-run stand. However, the game turned in South Africa’s favour once the partnership was broken. India, at last, scored 265/8 in 50 overs.

” When Shikhar and Virat were there, they were putting us under a bit of pressure. As soon as we got those two wickets, a new batter needs time to find his feet” he concluded saying.

The second ODI will be played at the same venue on January 21 with India eyeing to level the series.

Also Read: IND vs SA: It Was A Nice Game, There’s So Much To Learn – KL Rahul After First ODI Loss