Heinrich Klaasen reveals that he did not have match tickets for family for Pink ODI

An untimely wrist injury to Quinton de Kock opened the door for Klassen to make his ODI debut in the third ODI in Cape Town, but jitters took over and he failed to impose himself on the international level. AB de Villiers’ return to the squad for the fourth ODI also threatened his position behind the stumps, but when the former skipper decided not to keep wickets, the South African management had no other option than keeping him in the playing XI. And Klassen rose to the occasion and scored an unbeaten 43 from 27 balls to present South Africa their first win in the ODI series. However, the wicket-keeper batsman had hardly imagined that two weeks ago, when he had failed to collect match-tickets for his family.

“It was an unbelievable experience for me and something that I have always dreamed of. I just said to Aiden Markram now that two weeks ago I told my missus that I don’t have tickets for the game and now this,” Times Live quoted Klassen as saying.

"It's a massive, massive confidence-booster for us. We didn't have the confidence but just to get the first win has lifted the spirits in the change room."

Nearly 23,000 people attended the Pink ODI in person and painted the Wanderers arena with pink to raise awareness about breast cancer, and for the benefit of those suffering from the deadly disease. By distance, this was the best gathering in this tour so far and Klassen shared his gratitude to the Wanderers faithful.

“The crowd was unbelievable. I have never experienced something like this before and there were some stages in the game where the crowd just went ballistic. I couldn’t hear any nicks or stuff like that‚ but it was an unbelievable vibe.”