Heinrich Klaasen’s power-hitting helped Sunrisers Hyderabad come back from an early deficit and record 186 for 5 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.
Heinrich Klaasen, who has been in fine form lately, smashed a hundred in his first IPL game, helping Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in a key encounter in Hyderabad on Thursday. During his brilliant 51-ball knock, the keeper-batsman hit the ball six times over the fence and eight times across it. Together with Aiden Markram (18), and then Harry Brook (27 not out), he put on 76 runs to help SRH reach a respectable total, and then he and Brook added another 74 runs off 36 balls.
The knock by Klaasen was so good that even Sachin Tendulkar was amazed.
The IPL has both innovative and conventional styles of batting. The batting today has been absolutely Klaas-ic. Klaasen’s footwork has been among the best I’ve seen in recent memory, and it’s been deceptively easy to watch. A real visual treat! Sachin Tendulkar tweeted, “#SRHvRCB #IPL2023.
With no chance of making the playoffs, SRH once again got off to a bad start as RCB captain Faf du Plessis urged them to bat first.
Rahul Tripathi (15) and Abhishek Sharma (11) squandered decent starts, as they have all season, and Sunrisers were reduced to 28 for 2 at the end of the fifth over.
The SRH openers milked Wayne Parnell for 16 runs after the team scored only 11 runs in the first three overs.
Michael Bracewell, bowling off-spin, removed both openers in his first three balls. Tripathi hit a slog paddle sweep to the fine leg fielder, while Abhishek hit straight to Lomror at the cover.
With the Sunrisers’ powerplay at 49 for 2, it was Klaasen who sparked the scoring with three fours off of Shahbaz Ahmed.
When the ball was short, Klassen rocked back and pulled, sending Bracewell and Harshal Patel over the boundary and sending Karn Sharma for a 74-meter six.
Then, Klaasen sent Karn Sharma soaring into the stands as a punishment for his over-pitched bowling. The South African batsman reached fifty off only 24 balls.
While Klaasen was on fire, Markram was only able to get 18 runs before having his off stump pinned back by Shahbaz when he attempted a reverse hit.
Upon his recall to the XI, Brook promptly hit Karn Sharma for four and six, bleeding him for 21 runs, with Klaasen also lifting him over cover.
Due to Klaasen smashing the first two balls over the bowler’s head and Brook sending one fine, Du Plessis’ plan to have Shahbaz bowl the 17th over backfired.
In the next over, Parnell hammered the Yorkers and allowed only seven runs, but Klaasen brought up his hundred by smashing Harshal over his head. One ball later, as he attempted to take another powerful swing, he was ejected.
In his final over, Mohammed Siraj allowed only four runs while also picking up a wicket.
