Heinrich Klaasen is at the same level as AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, says Behardien

After racking up a comprehensive victory at Centurion, South Africa will be keen to keep the momentum going in a bid to win the series decider. With the win, the hosts have pulled the series level and it all goes down to the wire. The teams next lock horns at Cape Town today, in what promises to be a high-octane clash.

In the absence of regular skipper Faf Du Plessis, the JP Duminy led side absolutely outclassed the Indians to pull the series on level terms, courtesy a quickfire 69 from their wicketkeeper-batsman, Heinrich Klaasen. The wicket-keeper batsman was the protagonist behind their chase of 189 and it was well executed with the help of stand-in skipper Duminy. The gloveman’s fireworks powered the Proteas to a series-leveling 6-wicket victory as Klaasen made India’s marquee spinner Chahal his bunny, hitting him for five sixes.

Lauding the 26-year-old’s heroics, veteran Proteas cricketer Farhaan Behardien “Mark Boucher has had an influence on him with the way we play and train. He has stepped up. He is a hard character and a competitor. He wants to play for a long time. He is similar to the guys like AB (de Villiers) and Faf (du Plessis), the guys who want to fight and want to pick up a fight. That s the way he is.”

India has never played a T20 at Cape Town

Behardien is bullish about his side’s chances in the ‘virtual final’ and avers the host team’s confidence is high after dominating the Indian spinners in the shortest format. The Indian spin duo of Kuldeep and Chahal wrecked havoc in the ODI series but Behardien said the Proteas found a way to tackle Indian spin challenge, given how Chahal has taken a beating in this T20 series.

India, on the other hand, will face an unlikely challenge as they have never played a T20 game at Newlands.