After talking about the best performances of both Andrew Flintoff and Chris Cairns it is time to talk about a South African all rounder that was one of the best of his time and he won a lot of matches for South Africa on his own. He was the best all rounder before Jacques Kallis came in the team and South Africa were dependent on him in his prime. He has also scored a lot of runs and taken wickets for South Africa in both Tests and ODIs.
Lance Klusener Stats
Lance Klusener played international cricket for South Africa from 1996-2004 and in those 8 years he had left an indelible impact on the game as a whole. Check his stats in the below table:
Statistic | Test | ODI |
Matches | 49 | 171 |
Runs | 1906 | 3576 |
Batting Average | 32.86 | 41.10 |
Hundreds | 4 | 2 |
Wickets | 80 | 192 |
Bowling Average | 37.91 | 29.95 |
Five-Wicket Hauls | 1 | 6 |
Best Performances of Lance Klusener
174 vs England (1999)
The first incredible performance that we will talk about is this innings that Lance Klusener played against England in 1999. He made a big name with this innings and Lance Klusener came into bat at number 7 and in just 221 balls at a strike rate of over 78 and he hit 25 fours and 2 sixes in this innings meaning a total of 112 runs in boundaries and this innings led South Africa to a big first innings total. This was the best batting performance of Lance Klusener.
118* vs Sri Lanka (2000)
The second performance that we will talk about is one of the best test match innings that Lance Klusener has played in his career where he took his time and then scored a brilliant hundred in 219 balls and he hit 13 fours and 2 sixes and this was a more restrained innings as compared to the others and this innings helped South Africa to win this match by 7 Runs in the end. A truly special innings.
8/64 vs India (1996)
This was one of the most brutal spells of fast bowling and one of the best figures by a South African bowler. This came in 1996 in his very first test match and in the 4th innings of that test match. India were never allowed to get off the blocks as he kept picking wickets at regular intervals and he only bowled 21.3 overs and took 8 wickets and India were bowled out for 137 in the 4th innings giving South Africa a huge win of 329 runs in the match. This was a spell of fast bowling that instantly put his name on top of world cricket.
88* vs Australia (1996)
This was only the 3rd ODI innings in the Career of Lance Klusener and the way he anchored the chase and took South Africa home in this match said a lot about his character and skills. Australia batted first in this ODI match and they made 238 and while chasing Lance Klusener came in at number 3 and made a brilliant 88* from 99 balls at a strike rate of 88.89 with 8 fours and he took South Africa home safely.
6/49 vs South Africa (1997)
The last performance of Lance Klusener that we will be talking about is this spell that he bowled against Sri Lanka and this is also his best ever ODI bowling spell. Sri Lanka were chasing 312 runs to win and Lance Klusener took 6 wickets in the chasing innings and in 10 overs he broke the back of the Sri Lankan team and South Africa won the match by 66 runs. It was a statement of intent by Lance Klusener.
