Hyderabad, April 13 (IANS) Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batter Heinrich Klaasen felt he had much-better intensity while making 40 and play a vital hand in the side posting a massive 216/6 against Rajasthan Royals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Monday.

Klaasen struck three sixes and a four during his 26-ball stay at the crease, while sharing an 88-run stand with Ishan Kishan, who top-scored with 91. “I reckon about a 7 (rating for his innings). A lot better intensity from my side. I felt a lot better. So I’m very pleased with that.

“This may be a little bit there at the back-end when we lost Ishan. Drinks break in between and I just lost a little bit of momentum. But before that, I was quite happy with the intensity and the way I’ve been striking the ball,” Klaasen said in a mid-innings chat with the broadcasters.

He also observed that while the pitch was conducive to run-making, RR’s bowlers made life difficult once they adjusted their lines. “It’s a nice wicket tonight. The moment they into the wide yorkers and slower balls, it was a little bit difficult.

“So I reckon that will be our plans, not to give it away to the people now. But with the moment they went a little bit wider, it was a lot harder. Anything straight was, I felt like you can still catch up on boundaries,” he said.

One of the highlights of the evening was Klaasen’s maximum against pacer Nandre Burger, something which he attributed more to the quality of his bat than timing the ball. “No, he’s done me by pace there. So I was very happy that I’ve got quality bats. I brought out the heavy ones tonight to have a little bit more ping. So luckily I’ve got quality bats and that went over the boundary, but he’s completely done me there,” he added.

–IANS

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