The batter had looked in supreme touch after few lean months
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s star batter Heinrich Klaasen was not at the top of his game in the recently-concluded SA20.
Klaasen, who was in rampaging form in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 by scoring 479 runs from 15 innings at a jaw-dropping strike rate of 171, looked out of sorts in the SA20 with Durban Super Giants managing just 198 runs from eight innings. His team’s form coincided with his own as they lost six games and won only two games to finish bottom of the table.
Klaasen, who blazed his way through the middle and death overs elsewhere, got to a high score of 76 not out in 47 balls in the last group match to end the third edition of SA20 on a positive note.
He was also unavailable for South Africa’s first match of the Tri-Series in Pakistan against New Zealand due to the SA20 commitments. South Africa handed debuts to four players in that match and lost by six wickets despite putting up a target of 304/6 in 50 overs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
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Even opener Matthew Breetzke’s record-shattering 150 on debut couldn’t prevent a loss as Kane Williamson’s brilliant 133 not out made sure the Kiwis qualified for the tri-series final.
Walking in at 170/2 at the National Stadium in Karachi, Klaasen began in a cautious way scoring 7 off 14 balls before unleashing fire on Pakistan bowlers. First it was pacer Mohammad Hasnain who got smacked for five boundaries in the 34th over, four of which were off consecutive balls.
Before Pakistan could recover from that onslaught, Naseem Shah was taken for three boundaries and Khushdil Shah was clobbered for a massive 95-metre six over long off. Klaasen soon enough, brought up his 10th ODI fifty in 48 balls with a single off Naseem’s 42nd over.
After getting two fortunate boundaries off Abrar Ahmed and Shaheen Afridi, Klaasen found the sweet spot of his bat to smack Afridi for two sixes, a four and a three to squeeze his leftarmer’s 46th over for 20 runs.
Naseem brought an end to Klaasen’s rampage with a low full toss that the righthander couldn’t send over long on in the 48th over. Klaasen walked off having scored 87 off 56 balls, studded with 11 boundaries and three sixes. South Africa ended 50 overs with a score of 353/5.
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