Klaasen: Proteas won't change anything

Proteas batsman Heinrich Klaasen has shrugged off any pressure they face heading into the One Day International series decider against England and insisted they will not change their "blueprint" to end a 24-year drought.

South Africa suffered a massive 118-run defeat at Old Trafford on Friday to tie the three-match series at 1-1, as a rain-delayed encounter was reduced to just 29 overs.

After bowling the hosts out for 201 in 28.1 overs, the Proteas top order capitulated as they found themselves at 6/4 after just 3.5 overs, with Klaasen having top scored with just 33 runs as tail end crumbled thereafter.

However, the Titans star insists there are no drastic changes needed to ensure they walk away victorious from Sunday's final ODI at Headingly.

"Score more runs than them [laughs], I think that's the easiest thing. No, I don't think we need to change anything, our blueprints are good," Klaasen told the media, when asked what needed to change from Friday's defeat.

"We bowled extremely well [on Friday], when we were under pressure the guys kept fighting back and taking wickets after every big over. So, I don't think we need to change a lot, we just need to keep our confidence and belief and we are playing good cricket.

"They just bowled extremely well up front and that put us on the back foot, and it was difficult for us to come back from it."

South Africa have not won an ODI series in England since 1998, when the likes of Hansie Cronje, Jaques Kallis, Lance Klusner, Pat Symcox and Allan Donals among the stars of the show back then. But Klaasen insists they are not burdened by the pressure of the 2008, 2012 and 2017 failures.

"No, not really because we weren't there [in previous defeats]. We're a completely new group of players and we try to play our brand of cricket. The blueprint then and the blueprint now are completely different," he stressed.

"Whatever happens now is purely on us. We can't bring in the past and hold onto the past, it's got nothing to do with us. We believe in our game and the brand that we're going to play, and we're going to stick to it for as long as possible."

By Web Admin