Before February 25, Tuesday's pivotal Group B encounter in the 2025 Champions Trophy at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, South African captain Temba Bavuma gave an update on Heinrich Klaasen. Due to a soft tissue injury to his left elbow, Klaasen was sidelined as a precaution during South Africa's most recent match against Afghanistan in Karachi. The Proteas changed their batting order in his absence, with Bavuma moving to No. 3 and Ryan Ricketon, who was playing his maiden ODI of the year, opening alongside Tony de Zorzi.
Bavuma on Klaasen
According to the Proteas skipper Bavuma, Klaasen's selection is contingent upon receiving medical clearance.
"Well, I mean, they still have to assess his fitness there's obviously still the practice today so he'll do his practice today. Mainly he is batting and I guess him and the medical team they'll make a decision accordingly," Bavuma said in the pre-match press conference.
When Pakistan chased down 353 with an over remaining against Bavuma's South Africa earlier this month, it was their most successful run chase in ODI history. Bavuma said the Proteas would rather field first and chase any target Australia sets because of Pakistan's batting-friendly conditions.
"What will be the strategy? Look, I think like I've said at the beginning, the wickets are ones that are favourable towards batting. Batting second does seem to be the thing. It does seem to be a bit easier and a bit tough to defend. So, if we come tomorrow and we look at the conditions and we feel that's the best strategy for us to employ, then so be it. If we find ourselves on the other side of the coin toss where we are batting first, then we will have to do that extremely well. But yeah, I think like we all knew, batting is favourable at this point," Bavuma added.
After defeating Hashmatullah Shahidi's Afghanistan by 107 runs, South Africa now leads Group B with four points and a net run rate of +2.140.