Heinrich-Klaasen. (Photo source: X)
Heinrich Klaasen set the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi ablaze with a century for the ages in the ongoing encounter between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday, May 25.
After Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat first, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma once again gave the Orange Army a flying start, adding 92 runs inside the first seven overs. Heinrich Klaasen was promoted to No. 3 after Abhishek was dismissed by Sunil Narine for a 16-bal 32.
This move turned out to be a massive success, as the South African wicketkeeper-batter didn’t show mercy on any of the KKR bowlers. He took singles off his first couple of deliveries before launching Varun Chakaravarthy for a staggering maximum. This was his 300th six in T20 cricket.
Klaasen went from strength to strength after this blow as he timed the balls to perfection and made the boundary riders feel non-existent. The experienced campaigner took just 17 balls to bring up his half-century in the 12th over. He hit Varun Chakaravarthy for consecutive sixes to get to the landmark.
Off the last ball of the 20th over, Klaasen took two runs off Vaibhav Arora’s bowling, pulling the right-arm seamer through mid-wicket. He completed his century off just 37 balls with that double. Klaasen became the joint-third fastest centurion in IPL history. He equalled the record set by Yusuf Pathan in 2010. Only Chris Gayle and Vaibhav Suryavanshi have got to the three-figure mark faster than the South African stalwart in the IPL.
List of fastest centurions in terms of balls faced in IPL:
- 30 balls – Chris Gayle vs PWI, 2013
- 35 balls – Vaibhav Suryavanshi vs GT, 2025
- 37 balls – Yusuf Pathan vs MI, 2010
- 37 balls – Heinrich Klaasen vs KKR, 2025
- 38 balls – David Miller vs RCB, 2013
- 39 balls – Travis Head vs RCB, 2024
- 39 balls – Priyansh Arya vs CSK, 2025
Klaasen eventually finished unbeaten on 105 off 39 balls, belting seven fours and nine sixes. On the back of his exhilarating ton and Travis Head’s 76 off 40 balls, SRH finished on 278/3 in their 20 overs.
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