Heinrich Klaasen sets SRH mark with 37-ball carnage as Hyderabad smash IPL record with colossal 278 vs KKR

Hindustan Times

25-05-2025

Sunrisers Hyderabad, on Sunday, came full circle in IPL 2025. After 13 matches over 62 days, their batters rediscovered the aggression that had gone missing for much of the campaign — a slump that saw them crash out of the playoff race early. Travis Head's fifty and Heinrich Klaasen's 37-ball century powered the 2016 champions to a record IPL total against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Sunrisers had started the season with a bang, posting 286 against Rajasthan Royals in their opening game. It was the second-highest team total in IPL history, as they narrowly missed out on breaking their own record of 287, posted last year. The SRH template was again visible in the final game as they put up yet another total that seemed unsurpassable.
Head, who only recovered from Covid-19 earlier this week, which delayed his return to the tournament on resumption, saved his best for the final game as he fired an 18-ball fifty to get Sunrisers off to a fiery start. Coupled with Abhishek Sharma (32 off 16 balls), the openers laced 79 runs in the powerplay, en route to a 92-run stand.
Klaasen continued the mayhem, smashing nine maximums and seven boundaries as he notched up his second career IPL ton. Reaching the triple-figure mark in just 37 balls, the South African not only set a new SRH record, it was also the joint-third quickest IPL ton in history and the second fastest this season after Vaibhav Suryavanshi's 35-ball show against the Gujarat Titans earlier this month.
Klaasen became the second overseas batter to hit two or more IPL centuries from No. 3 or lower after South Africa great AB de Villiers (3). His nine sixes in the innings was also the second-most by an SRH batter after 10 maximums by Abhishek against PBKS at Hyderabad earlier this season.
On one of the flattest decks on offer, SRH batters showed no mercy to the likes of Anrich Nortje (0/60 in 4 overs), Harshit Rana (0/40 in 3 overs), Varun Chakravarthy (0/54 in 3 overs) and Sunil Narine (2/42 in 4 overs) as they posted 278 for six.
It was the third-highest team total in IPL history, with SRH now occupying the top four spots. It was also the highest score by a team against KKR, going past the previous best of 262, by Punjab in 2024 at the Eden Gardens. It is now also the highest IPL team total at the Arun Jaitley Stadium with SRH bettering their own feat of 266, scored last year against the Delhi Capitals.