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Klaasen helps Sunrisers bounce back

sacricketmag.com NaN days ago
Heinrich Klaasen 13 Apr 2026 BCCI
Heinrich Klaasen

Heinrich Klaasen made a key contribution as the Sunrisers Hyderabad beat the Rajasthan Royals by 57 runs in the IPL on Monday.

Hyderabad skipper Ishan Kishan hit 91 off 44 balls to guide his team to 216-6 after being invited to bat first.

Abhishek Sharma fell for a first-ball duck off pace ace Jofra Archer and fellow opener Travis Head departed on 18 before the left-handed Kishan hit back.

Kishan, who hit eight fours and six sixes, put on 88 with Klaasen, who made 40 off 26 balls, to rebuild the innings and lay the foundations of the tall total.

Rajasthan’s England star Archer returned figures of 2-37.

Debutant Sunrisers pace bowler Praful Hinge then wreaked havoc with a triple-wicket first over – an IPL first – as he sent back 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel and Lhuan-dre Pretorius, all three without scoring.

Hinge, who idolises Australia’s Pat Cummins, claimed four wickets and was ably supported by fellow Indian talent Hussain, who returned figures of 4-24 after coming in as impact substitute.

Rajasthan had slumped to 9-5 in their chase of 217 with Hinge sending back skipper Riyan Parag, for four, in his next over to raise the roof at the home stadium in Hyderabad.

Donovan Ferreira, who top-scored with 69, and Ravindra Jadeja, who made 45, then put on 118 before Hyderabad were bowled out for 159 in 19 overs.

It was Rajasthan’s first defeat in five games in this edition but they still top the 10-team table. Hyderabad, the 2016 champions, bounced back after two losses.

It was Sooryavanshi’s wicket that stunned Rajasthan as the in-form opener top-edged a rising delivery from Hinge with the ball going high and caught by wicketkeeper Salil Arora.

The baby-faced Sooryavanshi looked up to the sky and walked back disappointed only to see more trouble for his team in the big chase.

Sooryavanshi made history in last year’s IPL in a dazzling debut season highlighted by a 35-ball century, the second fastest in the history of IPL.

The new T20 sensation has mind-boggling numbers to his name, with 452 runs scored in 12 matches with a punishing strike rate of 228.28.

– AFP

Photo: BCCI

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