Steely Rassie explodes after dealing with rut and dropped catch: 'India needed to pay'

Rassie van der Dussen had only one simple thing on his mind after being granted a reprieve from a catch he offered to Shreyas Iyer at deep mid-wicket: he was going to make full use of it.

The Proteas middle order stalwart did exactly that in crafting an ultimately brilliant, unbeaten 75 off 46 deliveries that guided his team to a stunning seven-wicket victory over India in the first of five T20s on Thursday night.

Van der Dussen again showcased his steely temperament in an innings that led to a rollercoaster of emotions for everyone who witnessed his knock.

Dropped on 29, the 33-year-old struggled in scratching his way to 30 off 32 before effecting a remarkable turnaround.

India had ample reason to rue that miss - Van der Dussen's final 16 balls fetched 46 runs.

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"The key for me was that when that catch was dropped, I knew I had to make India pay," he said afterwards.

"I took a good few balls to get in and it was a wicket that got a lot easier once you were in. It was tough to get yourself set. I knew I was in and I had to make them pay."

Perhaps more significantly, this knock fully justifies Van der Dussen's tried-and-tested game-plan of setting himself a platform before taking off.

For a while that tactic did, however, seem inflexible, something he readily admitted.

"I did put myself and the team under pressure by not being able to hit early boundaries.  

"Sometimes [your approach] just doesn't come off and other days it does. Some days you're lucky, others you're not. And tonight I was lucky. If Shreyas had caught that ball, it might've been a different game. 

"That said, we had a lot of batting still to come."

Van der Dussen wasn't the