IPL Play Of The Day: Heinrich Klaasen makes Hazlegod the man in the Uppal massacre

For RCB, Josh Hazlewood was a cheat. When they need wickets in the over, in the middle or at the death, the Australian pacer is the man they turn to. He had 22 wickets in 12 matches as they went on to win the IPL title in 2025 and this time he has 12 scalps from 11 matches. As a result, Bengaluru fans fondly called him ‘Hazlegod’ purely on the basis of his skills and the way he worked with the ball.

But on Friday, May 22, Heinrich Klaasen decided to beat Hazlewood in the Uppal Stadium massacre and show that he is also mortal after all. Klaasen has enjoyed purple spots this season, not with his usual destructive ways, but with a measured approach.

He said that his mindset had changed and he wasn’t trying to hit 300 this season. But against RCB, he decided to go back to his old ways and take out his fury on the RCB bowlers and Hazlewood in particular.

Now many moments could have easily become the game of the day for the SRH vs RCB clash. Ishan Kishan continues his fine form against Bengaluru and the way the Hyderabad bowlers cleverly used the slower deliveries to nullify RCB’s firepower is worthy of a shout.

But for sheer brilliance alone, Klaasen takes credit for the match.

SRH vs RCB: UPDATE | SCORECARD

KLAASEN SCARES RCB BOWLER

SRH went with a big score and that was something Pat Cummins said at the toss. Travishek got going and put on 45 runs for the first wicket in four overs.

Abhishek Sharma and Kishan added 52 in the next 4.2 overs to push the run-rate even further. Abhishek gave a fine fifty but wasted no time in allowing Klaasen to come on.

But something seemed off. Klaasen mistimed the ball and suddenly the pressure seemed to mount on the South African batsman.

For SRH, they needed to beat RCB by 89 or more to reach the top two spots. Sensing an opportunity to settle the situation, Rajat Patidar gave the ball to Hazlewood.

At that time the score was 129 for 2 in 12 overs. Hazlewood ran to start things but then opted to sneak in a yorker to Klaasen.

But the South African performed an amazing shot and sent the ball into the stands. The next two deliveries were wides and then he was smoked again. A bit of backswing was on offer, but Klaasen was ready to send it into the stands. The next one was wide but Klaasen managed to sneak away for another boundary.

The agony continued for Hazlewood as the next ball went for a six. He eventually took a single to make it 27 from the over and the score 156 for two in 13 overs.

“5 out of 12 was a bit of pressure in this format. The team went in 11 or 12 so I had to catch up very quickly. It was either catch up or go out,” said Klaasen.

But a knock from Klaasen managed to strike fear into the minds of the RCB bowlers as they were just leaking it. 82 runs were scored in the next five overs as SRH posted 255.

It was Hazlewood’s third-worst bowling performance in the IPL as he finished wicketless and conceded 55 runs in his four overs.

RCB FAILS TO GET PERFORMANCE AS PER KLAASEN’S PERFORMANCE

They got off to a flyer when RCB gave chase. Venkatesh Iyer hit big right at the top with 44 off 19 balls and despite losing the opening balls he scored 75 off the over. To put that in context, that was 12 runs more than Hyderabad scored.

But right in the middle, where Klaasen got going, they lacked a Klaasen-like performance. Rajat Patidar stuck with a fine fifty but his innings lacked the same destruction as Klaasen.

Especially during overs 13-18, RCB scored just 50 runs while Hyderabad ran amok.

Devdutt Padikkal also got off to a great start, but Hyderabad’s bowling ensured that the batsmen did not get on a good track.

They could have maybe sent Tim David early ahead of Krunal Pandya to make an impact. In the end, they managed to fight their way to the first two places.

But the night belonged to SRH and Klaasen, who looks to be in ominous form with 606 runs from 14 matches.

– The end

Issued by:

Amar Panicker

Published on:

23 May 2026 08:16 IST

‘, e.appendChild