Rassie van der Dussen credits 'high pressure chases in Tests' for his impactful knock in the 1st ODI

South Africa’s middle-order batter Rassie Van der Dussen has explained how he succeeded in scoring a match-winning century in the first ODI against India at Boland Park in Paarl on Wednesday. His unbeaten quickfire 129 was instrumental in the hosts taking a 1-0 lead in the series-opener with a 31-run win.

After helping the Proteas draw first blood in the One Day series with his Man of the Match performance, Van der Dussen has revealed that the high-pressure run chases in the Test series gave him the confidence to play an impactful knock in the series-opener.

You need to stand up as a batter: Rassie van der Dussen

“Coming in today, we were in a bit of pressure. You need to stand up as a batter, two high-pressure chases in the Test, we were confident as a group coming into this match. We knew we’d be in a good position if we could post 280-plus,” said Rassie van der Dussen during the post-match interview.

“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,” he added.

Rassie van der Dussen and skipper Temba Bavuma resurrected the South African innings after they were in a spot of bother at 68/3 in the 18th over. Apart from notching up their respective centuries, the duo also added 204 runs for the fourth-wicket stand as the hosts posted 296/4 from their 50 overs.

In reply, Shikhar Dhawan (79) and Virat Kohli (51) stitched a 92-run stand for the second wicket after India lost the wicket of stand-in captain KL Rahul early. Kohli’s wait for a 71st international century prolonged after he was caught by Bavuma off Tabraiz Shamsi and once he walked back to the pavilion, the middle-order failed and despite a valiant half-century from tail-ender Shardul Thakur, the Men In Blue fell short and were eventually restricted to 265/8 from their 50 overs.