Sunrisers Hyderabad’s powerful middle-order batter Heinrich Klaasen will be a key player to watch in the Indian Premier League final clash against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday. Despite being overshadowed by SRH’s openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma this season, Klaasen remains a formidable force and a potential match-winner. Known for his prowess in T20 leagues globally, he is arguably the best T20 batter at present.
This season, Klaasen has played 15 matches for SRH, scoring 463 runs at an average of 42.09 and an impressive strike rate of 176.04. His highest score is an unbeaten 80, and he has hit four half-centuries, making him the 11th-highest run-scorer in IPL 2024.
The final, to be held at Chepauk Stadium in Chennai, pits two trailblazers of this IPL season against each other. KKR topped the league stage with nine wins, three losses, and two no-results, earning 20 points. They secured a direct spot in the final by defeating SRH in Qualifier 1. SRH, after a second chance in Qualifier 2, triumphed over Rajasthan Royals by 36 runs to book their place in the final.
Klaasen’s performance against KKR has been noteworthy. In four innings, he has scored 147 runs at an average of 49.00 and a strike rate of 193.42, including a 63-run knock as his only fifty against them. In their first encounter this season, Klaasen’s explosive 63 off 29 balls, featuring eight sixes, almost single-handedly chased down KKR’s target of 209 before Harshit Rana struck in the final over.
Klaasen has shown a strong strike rate against KKR’s key bowlers:
- Against Varun Chakravarthy, Klaasen strikes at 206.66, scoring 31 runs in 15 balls with four sixes and five dot balls, with one dismissal in three meetings.
- Against Sunil Narine, he has a strike rate of 166.66, scoring 30 runs in 18 balls with two fours and a six, playing just one dot ball in four meetings without being dismissed.
- Against Mitchell Starc, Klaasen has hit 22 runs in 10 balls, including three sixes, without being dismissed in their two meetings.
However, Klaasen has been less effective against Andre Russell, scoring at a strike rate of 120.00 with 12 runs in 10 balls, including a four, a six, and two dot balls.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Abdul Samad, Pat Cummins, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Jaydev Unadkat, Shahbaz Ahmed, Umran Malik, Sanvir Singh, Glenn Phillips, Mayank Markande, Mayank Agarwal, Washington Sundar, Anmolpreet Singh, Upendra Yadav, Jhatavedh Subramanyan, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Akash Maharaj Singh.
Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Nitish Rana, Srikar Bharat, Sherfane Rutherford, Dushmantha Chameera, Chetan Sakariya, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sakib Hussain, Suyash Sharma, Allah Ghazanfar.
