Sunrisers Hyderabad's Heinrich Klaasen celebrates after scoring a century (100 runs) during the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad Heinrich Klaasen’s knock featured eight sixes and incredibly not a single four. He kept Sunrisers Hyderabad in the hunt in their search of 209 for victory in their IPL clash, as they full just short. Picture: Noah Seelam/AFP
South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen was in top form in his side’s first game of the Indian Premier League season, as he hammered 63 from 29 balls for Sunrisers Hyderabad against the Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens over the weekend.
Klaasen’s knock featured eight sixes and incredibly not a single four. He kept his side in the hunt in their search of 209 for victory, as he was dismissed off the penultimate ball of the innings as Sunrisers fell four runs short.
Also featuring for Sunrisers was Proteas’ Aiden Markram with a brief stay of 18 runs from 13 balls before he departed.
The third South African on the books for Sunrisers is allrounder Marco Jansen and he managed figures of 0/40 in three overs as he opened the bowling. Though he did come into bat at number eight, he faced just one ball for his one run.
In Chennai, Faf du Plessis struck 35 from 21 balls in an opening partnership of 41 for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Du Plessis’s quick-fire knock included eight fours before he was dismissed.
RCB went on to post 173/6, which CSK chased down with eight balls to spare in an eight-wicket victory.
In Mullanpur, two South Africans were in action in the clash between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Punjab Kings (PK). Batting at number six for DC, Tristan Stubbs made five from eight balls before he was dismissed as his side compiled 174/9 in their 20 overs.
For PK, Kagiso Rabada sent down four overs to return figures of 1/36. Rabada’s PK then chased down their victory target with four balls to spare in a four-wicket win.
In Jaipur, Quinton de Kock was in action for the Lucknow Super Giants against the Rajasthan Royals. De Kock made just four before he was out. The Super Giants could only manage 173/6 in their pursuit of 194 for victory as his side went down by 20 runs.
In Ahmedabad, two SA players were in action as Gujarat Titans (GT) beat Mumbai Indians (MI) by six runs. Batting at number five for GT, David Miller never really got going as he made 12 from 11 balls before he was out.
MI quick Gerald Coetzee bowled four overs for figures of 2/27 as he helped restrict GT to 168/6.