Stats - Heinrich Klaasen 2.0 hits different

Heinrich Klaasen has turned into the six-hitting machine few IPL fans would've predicted him to become a year ago. They wouldn't have seen it coming even when he hit five sixes in a 46-ball 81 on a tricky wicket in Cuttack in 2022. Or when he biffed seven sixes in a 30-ball 69 in Centurion back in 2018. These performances were too sporadic for anyone to sit up and take notice of his striking ability.

However, there were early telltale signs in the 2023 SA20 league of what was to come later. In a match against Paar Royals in the SA20, Klaasen clobbered six sixes in just 19 balls. All told, he hit 17 sixes in that season from 221 balls - one every 13 balls. In the 2023 IPL, he improved that rate to one six every 10 balls. And he hasn't looked back ever since. Klaasen has been constantly turning the dial on his six-hitting game as he has gone from one franchise league to the next. In The Hundred Competition last year, Klaasen hit 17 sixes in 106 balls - on six every 6.2 deliveries on an average. That average came down to one every 5.8 balls in the SA20 league this year. In two matches in the IPL this year, Klaasen has taken just 63 balls to hit 15 sixes. Admittedly, that rate is so extraordinary that it likely to come down as the season progresses. But the progress over the past year is apparent.