"Had some nice steak" - Proteas batter's witty response after flying between Dubai & Pakistan ahead of SA vs NZ 2025 Champions Trophy semifinal clash

South Africa swashbuckling batter Heinrich Klassen had a funny response to the traveling schedule ahead of their 2025 Champions Trophy clash against New Zealand in Lahore on Wednesday, March 5. A couple of days before the second semifinal, the wicketkeeper-batter revealed that he enjoyed a ‘steak’ in Dubai.

The Proteas traveled to the Middle Eastern country amid uncertainty over the semifinal venues because Group A table toppers weren't confirmed. Notably, India are playing all their games in Dubai due to geopolitical tension against Pakistan.

The Temba Bavuma-led side left for Lahore for their clash against New Zealand. About the traveling schedule, Klassen said (via iol.co.za):

“Look, we knew that was a big possibility that we might fly up and down. So yeah, there's nothing really too (un)common about it. It's not ideal for the bodies, but at least we had some time to get out and walk around and get loose. I actually just had some nice steak to be fair.”

“But other than that, we knew it's going to happen and it's part of the scheduling. So two teams had to do it and unfortunately, we were one of them. We haven't really travelled a lot in this competition. It was obviously just a crazy 18 hours, to be fair,” he added.

Meanwhile, Steve Smith-led Australia, who also traveled to the West Asian country, stayed back for the first Champions Trophy semifinal fixture in Dubai on Tuesday, March 4.

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“Our bodies will be in a better position” – Heinrich Klassen picks where South Africa have an edge over New Zealand in the Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal

Heinrich Klassen further claimed that the Proteas have an edge over the Kiwis in terms of rest due to travel scheduling ahead of the Champions Trophy semifinal. The 33-year-old said in the same interaction:

“But both the teams playing in Lahore, they (New Zealand) played a game and they had to travel six hours after the game. We at least had time off to spread our legs and just recover as well before we had to come back. So, in that aspect, there's not a lot of difference.”

"I think our bodies will be in a better position than their bodies. But mainly, it's part of professional cricket at this moment and you just have to suck it up and go back and see if you can recover well and just get the job done at the end of the day,” he added.

Notably, South Africa and New Zealand played their last Champions Trophy group-stage games on Saturday (March 1) and Sunday (March 2), respectively..

Klassen added that South Africa are more comfortable playing in the knockout stages, hunting at the 2024 T20 World Cup final. He said:

“I think the nerves are a little bit less because we have a little bit more experience in the semi-final department now, The boys are holding a little bit more composure in the bigger moments in the game. So hopefully we can get into another final. We've got the experience now and the big boys need to step up on Wednesday.”

On the batting front, Klaasen smashed 87 and 64 against Pakistan and England in the group-stage games. He remains crucial for the Proteas in the middle order.

Follow 2025 Champions Trophy live score and updates here.