At SuperSport Park, Centurion Before he even commenced his dismantling of the Australian attack here on Friday evening, Heinrich Klaasen had been garnering rave reviews from legends such as AB de Villiers, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Kevin Pietersen.
Pierre de Bruyn, one of his formative coaches at Tuks, is convinced he's the best white-ball batter in world cricket currently.
There should be a substantial number of additions to that group following his sensational, career-best effort in the 4th ODI, an encounter the Proteas won by 164 runs to render Sunday's final match a decider.Klaasen was simply mesmerising as he took just 83 deliveries to reach an incredible 174, blitzing 13 fours and 13 sixes against an attack that was understandably shell-shocked.His innings, the eighth-highest individual score by a South African in ODIs, was also primarily responsible for his team reaching a mammoth 416/5, their fourth-highest in the format and also the seventh occasion they've passed the magical 400 mark - a world record. SCORECARD | Proteas v Australia, 4th ODI The 32-year-old's effort was also notable for the fact that he only came to the crease a delivery after the 25th over, attesting to his priceless ability of teeing off and finding boundaries when the fielding restrictions - relatively speaking - are lifted.The majority of his special qualities were on display as he chunkily hit square of the wicket on the off-side and unleashed an astonishing fusillade of hits on the on-side that sailed over the fence.Then, of course, there was also the breathtaking "hockey flick" played fine on the off-side that sailed over the third man boundary, an innovation his former Titans team-mate Chris Morris said he worked on over the