Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen went ballistic in the slog overs against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Sent in to bat at no.5, Klaasen turned the game upside down as the third match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 went down to the wire. His 29-ball 63 ended up in vain as KKR won the match by four runs but with eight sixes he broke an all-time IPL record.
Klaasen did not hit a single four and backed himself to take the aerial route to clear the boundary on eight occasions. The eight sixes he hit are the most by a batter in IPL without a four.
The previous record was held by three batters. Nitish Rana did it for Mumbai Indians against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in IPL 2017. In the same edition, Sanju Samson smashed seven sixes for Delhi Capitals (DC) against the now-defunct Gujarat Lions. The latest addition to the list is Tewatia who achieved the feat against PBKS in IPL 2020.
In T20 cricket (including domestic cricket, franchise cricket, and T20Is), Klaasen's record is bettered only by Riki Wessels who smashed nine sixes for Nottinghamshire against Worcestershire in T20 Blast 2018. Other than Klaasen, three other batters have eight sixes and no fours in a T20 innings as well.
Klaasen in SRH batters’ elite list
Klaasen also equalled the record for most sixes in an IPL innings for SRH. Former SRH skipper David Warner did it against KKR in IPL 2017. Three years later, Manish Pandey smashed eight sixes against Rajasthan Royals (RR).
SRH achieve personal best
15 sixes were hit by SRH batters against KKR, the most for them in IPL. Their previous best of 13 sixes came against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and RR in 2019 and 2023 editions of IPL respectively.
Four overs of mayhem
71 runs were scored in the last four overs. This is the second-most in an IPL run chase. The top spot is occupied by MI with 79 runs against RCB in IPL 2020 which the latter won in super over.
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