New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) Heinrich Klaasen led a ruthless six-hitting display for Sunrisers Hyderabad, slamming a breathtaking unbeaten 37-ball century, the third fastest in IPL’s history, as he propelled the side to a mammoth 278/3 against a listless Kolkata Knight Riders at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Sunday.

On a fresh pitch used in the season for the first time, Klaasen made his promotion to No.3 count by unleashing his prowess in consistently playing shots straight down the ground while punishing anything short by pulling with immaculate ease to finish unbeaten on a 39-ball 105 – laced with seven fours and nine sixes at a strike-rate of 269.23, as SRH also posted the third highest IPL total of all time.

While hitting his second IPL hundred, Klaasen was well supported by Travis Head, who smacked a brilliant 76 off 40 balls – his third IPL 2025 fifty — laced with six fours and as many sixes, as well as by cameos from Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Aniket Verma, as 74 runs were scored off last five overs.

For KKR, it was an utterly forgettable bowling show as their pacers and spinners were taken for runs aplenty by SRH’s rampaging batters, including in the middle overs. They also erred big time in bowling too short or too full all evening, which rendered them lacking in any serious penetration, as Klaasen & CO ensured SRH are in a prime position to end their season on a high.

Electing to bat first, after a quiet opening over, Head pulled Anrich Nortje for a powerful six, before Abhishek dispatched Nortje for successive boundaries, as 20 runs came off the second over. Head then flicked and smacked Vaibhav Arora for two sixes, while punching him for four as 19 runs came off the third over.

Head’s onslaught continued as he feasted on Harshit Rana’s wayward lines to hit three fours in the fourth over, while Abhishek superbly lofted and pulled Nortje for consecutive boundaries in the next over. Fittingly, Head smacked Rana over mid-wicket for six, as SRH ended the power-play at 79/0.

Abhishek’s smacking game continued when he swatted Sunil Narine for successive sixes, before toe-ending off the spinner to mid-wicket and falling for a 16-ball 32. But there was no stopping Head as he went back to pull Varun Chakaravarthy over deep mid-wicket for six and got his fifty in 26 balls, as it also brought up SRH’s hundred in just 7.2 overs.

From the other end, Klaasen joined the boundary-hitting party by taking a six and four each off Chakaravarthy and Narine, respectively. Chakaravarthy came under the pump at the halfway mark as Head smacked him over long-off for six, before Klaasen hit him for three boundaries, as 20 runs came off it.

KKR called up Andre Russell to conjure some magic, but Klaasen and Head hit three boundaries collectively in the 17-run over. Klaasen smacked a listless Rana for four and two sixes – the second of which got his fifty in just 17 balls. Though Head holed out to long-off against Narine and went back for a 40-ball 76, Klaasen and Kishan ensured the boundary-hitting spree didn’t suffer – the former would rotate strike easily, allowing the latter to keep attacking KKR’s bowlers.

After Kishan cut Arora for four, while lofting and flicking with aplomb to get a four and six off Nortje, Klaasen smashed Narine for two sixes, before muscling Chakaravarthy for successive maximums, as SRH reached their 200 in the 15th over. After Kishan got a four off Russell via toe-end, Klaasen slammed downtown and glanced the all-rounder for six and another boundary.

Though Kishan sliced to deep point and walked back for a 19-ball 29, Klaasen got the brace that took him to his century on the last ball of the 19th over and celebrated it in a stoic mode amidst applause from the sparse crowd. Aniket pulled and drove with an open face of the bat to take six and four off Nortje before Klaasen chipped him through extra cover to ensure he remained unbeaten on 105 in a typical SRH knock.

Brief scores:

Sunrisers Hyderabad 278/3 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 105, Travis Head 76; Sunil Narine 2-42, Vaibhav Arora 1-39) against Kolkata Knight Riders

–IANS

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