Manchester, July 7 (IANS) South Africa batsman Rassie van der Dussen hopes his defiant 95 against Australia, which helped the team win by 10 runs and end their World Cup campaign on a high, establishes him as a player who can perform in tough situations.
"I would like to be a guy that performs under pressure and performs when the team is down and when the team really needs it," van der Dussen was quoted as saying by the ICC.
In his first meeting against Aaron Finch's Aussies, the 30-year-old scored a career-best 95 runs off 136 balls and shared in a 151-run third-wicket stand with captain Faf du Plessis.
It was South Africa's highest-partnership of the tournament.
"Any World Cup game is a high-pressure environment and I felt I did fairly okay. Luckily today's innings contributed to a match-winning cause."
Van der Dussen was hit on the helmet by Pat Cummins off the 13th ball he faced, before offering Alex Carey a stumping chance when he was on five.
"It was tough upfront. I didn't really get going like I normally do and like I wanted to. I found it a bit difficult to rotate and they didn't give me any free runs," van der Dussen said.
"Faf was really good. He got me through that tough period. He is so experienced and he has seen it all. He kept our momentum going. I knew if I could stay in, I could catch up.
"The key was to keep staying in, keep that positive intent and luckily late in my innings I could get a few boundaries away," he continued.
"It was disappointing not to get a hundred but it wasn't my day for a hundred. I'll take the victory with a 95 rather than a hundred and a loss. It was still a good day."
The Proteas had a forgettable World Cup, falling out of contention for the semi-finals more than two weeks ago when they lost to Pakistan.
Among the positives, van der Dussen has emerged as their find of the tournament with six half-centuries to his name, including three at this World Cup.
He finished the competition as South Africa's second-highest run-scorer, behind du Plessis.
"I know I can play a role going forward in our team environment. I will take a lot from this World Cup, a lot of experience, a lot of learnings," van der Dussen said.
"I will try and apply that going forward. If I get my chance again, I will try to be at my best and try to grow as a player."
South Africa finished with seven points from nine games in seventh position.
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