South Africa wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen smashed his maiden T20 century as Durban's Super Giants set a record for the highest score in the inaugural SA20 league on Sunday night. Facing table-toppers Pretoria Capitals, Klaasen's unbeaten 43-ball ton helped his team to a total of 254/4 in 20 overs and in response, their opponents were dismissed for a measly 103.
His century was the second of the tournament after veteran batter Faf du Plessis scored his for the Joburg Super Kings. It also took the side based out of Durban to fifth on the points table, at par with Paarl Royals.
Klaasen's entertaining innings culminated with his 10th boundary of the game, having already smashed 6 sixes across his 44-ball innings. He has a brilliant strike rate of 236.36, and completed his century in 44 balls to back up the batting of the openers Quinton de Kock (43 off 20) and Ben McDermott (41 off 24). Even Matthew Breetzke went in on the action, scoring a brilliant 46 off 21 and setting a partnership of 84* (36 balls).
Klaasen’s pyrotechnics saw the Super Giants post the highest score of the maiden SA20 tournament, surpassing the Capitals and Super Giants’ previous 216. He is now just six runs behind top-placed du Plessis in the list for the most runs in this competition.
The Super Giants arrived at the Centurion with their eyes only centred on victory as they shuffled their batting line-up around. Captain de Kock and Australian international McDermott provided the early charge with an opening partnership that yielded 76 runs in just 6.1 overs. De Kock was the first to depart for 43 off 20 balls. McDermott maintained the momentum with Klaasen, who was promoted to No 3 as the pair added a further 40 off just 20 balls.
Once Klaasen got his rhythm, there was no stopping him. The dismissal of McDermott was followed by the quick wickets of David Willey (1 off 2) and Wiaan Mulder (9 off 9). The, alongside Breetzke, Klaasen wreaked havoc in the final six overs.
The Capitals' batting unit failed under the pressure of chasing a high score and instead folded for just 103. Junior Dala was the pick of the Super Giants’ bowlers with figures of 3/33, while Dwaine Pretorius (2/20) and Mulder (2/17) claimed two wickets each.
Klaasen was bought by SunRisers Hyderabad for Rs 5.25 Crore during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 auction,
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