In BloemfonteinRassie van der Dussen can't quite pinpoint why, but it's very clear that he loves 50-over cricket.The star Proteas right-hander's superb century in Friday night's triumph over England at the Mangaung Oval - the fourth of his career - helps him maintain his bewildering numbers in the format.Van der Dussen's career average of 71.13 is the best for any South African and second highest in the history of ODIs for players who've scored over 1 000 runs in the format.More importantly, however, a return to the 50-over stuff has also led to the 33-year-old rekindling the type of form that's been hard to come by since returning from a finger injury on the tour of England last year.Shubman Gill (India) - 73.76Rassie van der Dussen (SA) - 71.13Ryan Ten Doeschate (Netherlands) - 67.00Babar Azam (Pakistan) - 59.41Virat Kohli (India) - 57.69*Minimum 1 000 runsSo pronounced was his struggles for scores - and game-time, for that matter - that it's little wonder his resourceful if somewhat unspectacular 111 off 117 deliveries ranks as one of his favourite international knocks now.READ | Magala shakes off the nerves, keeps it simple and spearheads superb Proteas comeback"Definitely one of my more satisfying experiences.
Last year's injury came at a bad time for me in missing the T20 World Cup, especially after having a good one the previous year.
From a mental point of view it was tough," said Van der Dussen."Going back into red-ball cricket was a bit imperfect. I played a few games for the Lions and then played in the Test against the Aussie at the Gabba, where the pitch was probably the same colour as this green tablecloth.