South Africa had to travel to Dubai and then back for their semi-final in Lahore.
With a last-minute 18-hour flight to Dubai, South Africa's path to the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semi-finals took an unexpected turn. But hitter Heinrich Klaasen is adamant that the hectic trip won't affect their performance as they go ready to play New Zealand in Lahore on Wednesday.
The tournament's schedule necessitated that Australia and South Africa go to the United Arab Emirates as they awaited the outcome of the last Group A match between India and New Zealand, which caused travel confusion.
With India securing victory and topping the group, only Australia remained in Dubai for their semi-final against India, while South Africa made a swift return to Pakistan. Despite the disruption, Klaasen believes the team is well-prepared.
“It was not ideal for the bodies, but we had some time to get out and walk about. We knew ahead of time that two teams were going to have to travel. We haven’t traveled a lot in this competition, to be fair. It was just a crazy 18 hours. We could stretch our legs and recover before we had to come back. It is part of professional cricket these days. There is not much more to say about it,” Heinrich Klaasen was quoted by Times of India.
If India defeats Australia, the winner of the South Africa-New Zealand match, which is taking place in Lahore, will simply need to go to Dubai for the championship match. Otherwise, Lahore will host the grand finale.
"It is quite chilly (in Lahore), so I think the ball will swing a little bit more. It is a good skill that needs to be applied. But Pakistan is a nice place to bat," Klaasen noted.
They are confident because of South Africa's recent performance in ICC events. They placed second in the previous year's T20 World Cup and advanced to the 2023 ODI World Cup semifinals. Klaasen thinks they will benefit greatly from those experiences.
"The nerves are a little bit less because we have more experience in the semi-final department. We are playing good cricket at ICC events, we have just had some bad luck and things ndid ot go our way. We are holding our composure in the bigger moments. The big boys just need to step up on Wednesday,” he stated.
South Africa will qualify for the final with a win over New Zealand in the semi-final in Lahore. They would need to wait to see who they face- either India in Dubai or Australia in Lahore.