Heinrich Klaasen blasted his way to an unbeaten 27-ball 43 © BCCI

Two weeks ago, Heinrich Klaasen was feeling stressed. "I told my 'meisie'(girlfriend) that I didn't have tickets to come to Pink Day," he said. Now in its sixth year, the Pink ODI has become one of the big events on the Highveld social scene. Klaasen had dropped the ball, so to speak.

But on Saturday (February 10), the wicketkeeper-batsman had not only secured entry to the Wanderers, he had also become the life of the party. After three heavy defeats in the one-day series against India, South Africawerefeeling the pressure to maintain their winning record in Pink ODIs. Klaasen's unbeaten 43 from 27 balls acted like a pressure release valve.

"It's a massive, massive confidence-booster for us," Klaasen said after guiding South Africa to a rain-affected five-wicket win. "We didn't have the confidence but just to get the first win has lifted the spirits in the change room."

South Africa went into the game looking for a saviour, but it did not come in the form they expected it. AB de Villiers returned from a finger injury, sparking hope that his ability to tackle spin would guide the Proteas through their recent difficulties. Instead, that spark was extinguished by Hardik Pandya, and some new heroes emerged as a lucky David Miller knock was backed by Klaasen and Andile Phehlukwayo.

Of course, there were times when it looked as though it was not going to be. In the 18thoverof an innings scheduled to last 28 overs, Miller was dropped off one Yuzvendra Chahal delivery, bowled off the next and caught from the one after that. But because Chahal had overstepped with the second delivery, Miller lived on and made the most of the free hit.

"It was definitely a momentum changer for us, getting that free hit on David's wicket," reflected Klaasen. "He's a cool, calm and experienced cricketer and he just said, 'Anything in our slot we need to back and whatever we decide to do, we need to do fully.' So we were very calculated in our approach there. Maybe it didn't look like it, but it was all calculated and planned out."

Klaasen clearly had plans to disrupt the legspinner, even if those plans involved some unorthodox methods for doing so. They were never less orthodox than in the 22nd over, when Klaasen walked to the offside to collar a delivery that was 4.5metresfrom his stumps over the legside field for four.

"That's where the gaps were, so I needed to do something about it. I can't describe it but for me, that was my only boundary option, he bowled quite wide and got a lot of turn and bounce, that was my gutsy shot at that moment and I pulled it off."

There were also sweeps, including two reverse-sweeps over the offside field. "It comes naturally to me, but I work hard on it," he explained. "Three years ago, we went to Sri Lanka on a National Academy trip. We learned all types of sweeps. Since then, I've brought it back into my game and it works, it takes off a lot of pressure. Especially against good spinners, it's difficult to hit them down the ground if you don't use your feet well. So that just changed up their lengths and it suits me a little bit better."

The ploy helped to put the pressure on Chahal. Having looked un-hittable in the first three ODIs, the legspinner suddenly went for 68 runs in just 5.3 overs. Klaasen mentioned that South Africa had not felt uncomfortable against the bowler in previous games, but their inability to pick Kuldeep Yadav had muddied their minds. The Proteas spent the days in between the defeat at Newlands and the fourth ODI at the Wanderers analysing Yadav's variations, and the homework paid off - although the left-arm spinner picked up another two wickets, he also went at 8.5 runs per over.

That South Africa benefited from the two weather delays was not in dispute. The second one reduced their chase to another 159 runs in 20.4 overs - a very achievable equation on a ground where the ball can fly. But they also made the most of the interventions, not only in the way that they chased but also in the first innings when their fast bowlers fought back. India had reached 200 for two in 34.2 overs when lightning forced the players off the field. When they returned, the tourists could only scramble their way to 289.

"That was a phenomenal 16 overs," said Klaasen. "I thought our death bowling in Cape Town was also very good, and that's a good thing for South Africans to see, that our death bowling is picking up. Chris Morris and KG (Rabada) are bowling very well there so that obviously lifts our mood. I think they were looking at 340 at some stage, so yeah, all credit needs to go to the bowlers to restrict them and to get us back into the series."

Two weeks ago, Klaasen would have been happy to have a ticket to the game. Quinton de Kock's injury during the Centurion ODI allowed him to make his international debut at Newlands before enjoying the best seat in the house at the Wanderers. Now he has a matchwinning knock behind his name, and a man-of-the-match award to go on his mantlepiece.

"Talking to our spinning coach (Claude Henderson), I just said that I wanted to get the first knock out of the way, get settled with the nerves and all those things," he said. "It's been a long time coming. It means the world to me, it's better than a hundred, better than anything else to play for your country."

© Cric