SRH vs RCB | Heinrich Klaasen's Masterclass Hundred Blows Away RCB
Klaasen scored his maiden IPL hundred [AP Photos]
Heinrich Klaasen has been Sunrisers Hyderabad's best batter in the ongoing IPL season, and he showed his worth yet again with a maiden IPL century against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Klaasen's masterclass helped SRH post a competitive 186 for 5 on the board.
Klaasen stuns RCB bowlers
Put into bat, SRH were off to a cautious start, courtesy Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek Sharma. The plan was simple - See off Mohammed Siraj's overs and attack from the other end. The duo struck a couple of delightful boundaries and threatened to run away with the game inside the power-play.
But Faf du Plessis brought Michael Bracewell inside the power-play and the off-spinner repaid the faith with twin strikes in his first over. He dismissed Abhishek on the very first ball of his over and made sure there was no hurrah for Tripathi, as he was caught at short fine leg in the same over.
This is where the complexion of the game changed as Klaasen, who has been in imperious form throughout the tournament, took the attack to the opposition. He started the onslaught with triple boundaries off the Shahbaz Ahmed over and then turned the attention to the RCB quicks.
One of the best players of spin in the tournament, Klaasen targeted Karn Sharma and hammered him for a couple of big hits. Meanwhile, a struggling Aiden Markram was knocked over by Shahbaz, but the momentum was still with the SRH side, with Harry Brook at the crease.
Karn Sharma was taken apart in the 15th over as SRH etched closer to the 200-run mark.
The South African batter wrote history and slammed his maiden IPL century with a six off Harshal Patel in the 19th over. This was his maiden IPL hundred, to go with two half-centuries this season. He was dismissed just after breaching the 100-run mark (104 off 51).
Eventually the Sunrisers were able to post a competitive total on the board.
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