Heinrich Klaasen tipped the scales in favour of his side with a fine cameo in the MI vs SRH clash. With Sunrisers in need of a boost, Klaasen took off, smashing Deepak Chahar in a brutal display of hitting at the Wankhede Stadium. The South African keeper finished with a vital knock of 37 on a sluggish wicket in Mumbai on Thursday.
WATCH Klaasen tonks Deepak Chahar for SRH boost
Coming into bat at the fall of Travis Head’s wicket, Heinrich Klaasen struggled to get to terms with the conditions on offer. With MI bowlers nailing their plans to perfection, the South African bided his time in the middle. He got only 4 off his first 10 deliveries and was batting on 16 off 21 when Nitish Reddy departed in the 17th over.
With just 3 overs to go, Klaasen went on the offensive, taking charge against Deepak Chahar. With dew settling in, the MI pacer missed his lengths. The SRH star nailed a couple of boundaries sandwiched between two maximums. The 21-run over tilted the momentum in favour of the visitors, who struggled until that point in the innings. Chahar, meanwhile had a horror outing, finishing with figures of 0/47 in his four overs.
Klaasen’s knock was eventually ended by Jasprit Bumrah in the next over. Trying to make room for himself, the South African completely missed a low full toss to be sent packing. Klassen’s 37 off 28 was the right blend of caution and aggression for the visitors. It was the foundation on which Sunrisers eventually pushed the score past 160. The visitors scored 47 in the last three overs to put a par score at Wankhede.
It was Klaasen’s best effort of IPL 2025. So far, the keeper-bat has 210 runs in 7 innings at a strike-rate of 159.09.
