A little help from a legend: Pretorius credits Klaasen after career-best innings

Lhuan-dré Pretorius praised former Proteas star Heinrich Klaasen for helping him turn his game around after the young opener hit a T20 International career-best 94 runs off 51 balls in South Africa's 43-run win against Zimbabwe in the T20 International tri-series in Windhoek on Tuesday. Pretorius had struggled with scoring in his recent games for London Spirit in the UK's The Hundred competition, and was dismissed for just nine runs in the Proteas' opening match of the ongoing T20 tri-series against Namibia.

He reached out to Klaasen, an experienced T20 player, for advice ahead of the third game of the series. Klaasen, who plays for the same franchise, the Titans, advised Pretorius to focus on making small targets and aiming to reach 15 balls, which ultimately paid off. Despite falling six runs short of his maiden T20 International century, Pretorius remained unfazed, as he prioritized contributing to the team effort over personal milestones.

South Africa will face Namibia in their final T20 match of the tri-series on Friday, with the final scheduled to be held on Sunday.