Klaasen is in beast mode
Klaasen's numbers are insane
Heinrich Klaasen scored his 22nd T20 half-century against Joburg Super Kings, and it was a thing of beauty in more ways than one.
It took Heinrich Klaasen four deliveries to hit his first boundary. Lizaad Williams bowled a shortish delivery in the channel. Klaasen waited until the last moment before he cut it past the fielder at deep third for a boundary. He faced another four balls before he struck his second boundary, clipping a delivery that kept low past the fielder at short fine leg for a four.
Using his statistics since January 2023, Klaasen was supposed to hit a six on the next two balls he faced. In that period, Klaasen has been hitting a six every 9.91 deliveries he faces in T20 cricket. That is an insane statistic. It puts him in an elite group. Among the top 10 run-scorers in T20 cricket, only three have been clearing the boundary in less than 10 deliveries; Nicholas Pooran (8.88), Tim David (9.42) and Heinrich Klaasen (9.91).
But, Klaasen didn’t hit a six in the next two balls he faced. This was not the kind of field where one could hit sixes at will. Pooran, the most prodigious six-hitter in T20 cricket at the moment, did not hit a single maximum in his 15-ball stay at the crease. The pitch was slow and had uneven bounce.
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Klaasen has not made a name for himself as one of the most destructive middle-order batters in the past 12 months just by hitting sixes. He has also been hitting a bagful of fours. Since January 2021, Klaasen has been hitting a four in every 8.66 deliveries he faces. Against JSK, he carved seven fours. The other 10 Durban Super Giants batters managed eight fours between them, while the Joburg Super Kings eleven struck only three fours.
It was a tough track, and that makes Klaasen’s seven fours all the more impressive. He looked like he was batting on a different surface from everyone else, which is in keeping with Klaasen’s form over the past 12 months.
In the past 12 months, the Proteas star has both the highest average and highest strike rate among the top 10 run-scorers batting in numbers three to six in T20 cricket. He averages 50.23 at a strike rate of 173.44. Tim David has the second-highest strike rate, 167.21, but he has the sixth-best average. Nicholas Pooran’s average of 38.30 is the second-highest, yet his strike rate of 154.30 is the fourth-highest. These statistics just tell you that Klaasen is on rarified air. He is effortlessly combining a high average with an astronomical strike rate.
On 15 January 2024, he did that at Kingsmead Stadium. He carved 64 runs from 41 deliveries at a strike rate of 156.09. His teammates struck 75 runs off 79 (legal deliveries) at a strike rate of 98.68. The Joburg Super Kings scored 108 runs in 120 balls for a strike rate of 90. This is an insane statistic.
The point is, anyone can hit fours and sixes on batter-friendly pitches and Klaasen does it on belters and tough pitches. He is just that good.
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Thanks for reading. Until next time… - CS