30 April,2026 04:11 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Heinrich Klaasen, Kevin PIetersen (Pic: File Pic)
In the IPL 2026 match against Mumbai Indians (MI), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) emerged victorious by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
During the match, SRH's star batsman Heinrich Klaasen delivered a match-winning knock of an unbeaten 65 runs off just 30 deliveries, laced with seven boundaries and four maximums.
The right-handed batsman was also adjudged the "Player of the Match" for his immense contributions.
Following his heroics, former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen feels that Cricket South Africa (CSA) should ask Klaasen to come out of retirement and play for the national team in the upcoming ODI World Cup.
He shared a post on his official social media handle, which read, "South Africa have never won a cricket world cup! There should be a phone call this morning, from the South African cricket board, to Heinrich Klaasen, to ask him if he can rejoin international cricket and be a central figure in their campaign to try and win their first ever world cup which will be in South Africa next year."
Klaasen announced his retirement from international cricket in June last year. The 34-year-old cricketer has been going strong in the ongoing edition of the cash-rich league. He is also the second leading run-scorer in the tournament with 414 runs under his belt in nine matches.
Having opted to bat first, the hosts posted a gigantic total of 243 runs for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs.
Opening the innings, Will Jacks smashed 46 runs in 22 balls, with the help of five boundaries and three maximums. Fellow opening batsman Ryan Rickelton delivered a knock of an unbeaten 123 runs off just 55 deliveries, laced with 10 boundaries and eight maximums.
Later, Naman Dhir and skipper Hardik Pandya scored 22 and 31 runs, respectively.
SRH's Praful Hinge returned with the figures of two wickets for 54 runs in four overs. Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, and Nitish Kumar Reddy claimed one wicket each.
In the second essay of the game, the Sunrisers scored 249 runs for the loss of four wickets in 18.4 overs. Travis Head smashed 76 runs off just 30 deliveries, including four boundaries and eight maximums. Abhishek Sharma garnered 45 runs in 24 balls, including four boundaries and three maximums. Heinrich Klaasen accumulated an unbeaten 65 runs in 30 balls, including seven boundaries and four maximums.
Nitish Kumar Reddy also scored 21 runs in 17 balls, with the help of three maximums. Shouldering Klaasen was Salil Arora, who smashed an unbeaten 30 runs off just 10 balls, including two boundaries and three maximums.
MI's Allah Ghazanfar claimed two wickets. Trent Boult and skipper Pandya also managed to bag one wicket each.
(With ANI Inputs)
