Pretorius credits Klaasen’s advice after career-best 94 vs Zimbabwe

South African batter Lhuan-dre Pretorius spoke about receiving valuable guidance from former Proteas player Heinrich Klaasen following his impressive 94-run performance in the tri-nation series match against Zimbabwe in Windhoek.

Pretorius had experienced a period of low scores prior to this innings, having scored two half-centuries during his campaign with London Spirit in The Hundred but finishing with modest scores of 16 and 6. In the Major League Cricket (MLC) for the San Francisco Unicorns, Pretorius recorded a maiden T20 century against MI New York but then went six innings without reaching fifty.

Starting the tri-nation series featuring South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe with scores of 9 and 22, Pretorius delivered his career-best 94 from 51 balls against Zimbabwe. His innings included 12 fours and three sixes, helping South Africa reach 185 for 7 before restricting Zimbabwe to 142 all out. Before this knock, he had tallied 209 runs at an average of 23.22 across nine innings, including two fifties.

“I spoke to Heinrich Klaasen,” Pretorius said in Windhoek, as reported by Cricinfo. “Coming off a couple of low scores in The Hundred and the first two games here, I just feel like I had to speak to him. He has obviously played a lot of T20 cricket around the world, and he has experienced most things – all the ups and all the downs, lows and highs. And I felt like he is a good person to speak to.”

Pretorius acknowledged differences in their batting roles, with himself as a top-order batter and Klaasen as a middle-order player, but emphasised the importance of their conversation on mindset. “I feel like we can speak, and we have some similarities around it. And he really helped me in terms of my mindset going into today,” he added.

Despite his strong start, Pretorius faced only 12 balls between overs 16 and 19 as wickets fell at the other end, reducing the likelihood of reaching a century. He became the sixth wicket to fall and will wait for his maiden T20 International century for South Africa.

On not prioritising personal milestones, Pretorius said, “I was not too fussed about it. I believe that milestones will come and go. It is a team sport. If I were worried about my milestone, I would rather play tennis or golf. So I was not too upset about it.”

In 16 T20 Internationals, Pretorius has scored 326 runs at an average of 20.37 and a strike rate of 141.73, including two half-centuries.

In the match against Zimbabwe, South Africa chose to bat first. Pretorius’s 94 and Dewald Brevis’s 41 off 27 balls helped establish a strong total despite a late collapse from 154 for 1 to 185 for 7. Zimbabwe’s bowlers Wessly Madhevere (3/20), Brad Evans (2/33) and Newman Nyamhuri (1/30) triggered the collapse.

In response, South African bowlers Bjorn Fortuin (4/24) and Duan Jansen (3/21) delivered regularly, dismissing Zimbabwe for 142 runs. Zimbabwe’s captain Sikandar Raza top-scored with 45 off 33 balls and Nyamhuri scored 27.

South Africa currently leads the tri-nation series table with two wins and one loss. Namibia and Zimbabwe have two points each, with Namibia having one win and one loss, and Zimbabwe one win and two losses. Namibia will face Zimbabwe and South Africa in the remaining matches to determine the finalists.