Former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn has reckoned that the narrow victory over Chennai Super Kings could prove to be a “turning point” for Sunrisers Hyderabad. After a nervy start to the tournament, losing three of the first four games, SRH have staged a comeback, securing back-to-back wins, including a 10-run victory over CSK in Chennai, to move into the top four in the points tally.
Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen smashed belligerent half-centuries to guide SRH to an imposing 194/9 before the bowlers restricted the hosts to CSK to 184/8. Eshan Malinga was the pick of the bowlers, returning 3 for 29 in four overs, while Nitish Kumar Reddy claimed 2 for 31.
“This victory of SRH against CSK shows that they are back to their best after a slow start to the season. At the mid-innings break, I was having a chat with Heinrich Klaasen, and he told me he felt Sunrisers were probably 10 or 15 runs short of where they needed to be. He said a huge bowling effort would be required to secure the win. That is what Sunrisers went out and did,” Steyn said on JioHotsar.
“You could see they fielded extremely hard. They took tough catches. They were committed to the cause. When they finally won, I was watching Heinrich Klaasen fielding at long-off. He turned to the crowd, pumped his chest, and held the SRH badge to say, ‘Thank you for backing us, we’re back in this’. “This could be the turning point for them now, where they just keep climbing up the points table,” he added.
Steyn also highlighted Malinga’s performance, stating that his perfect execution of the yorkers in the death overs played a critical role in SRH’s successful defence.
“When CSK needed to play big shots, the pinpoint yorkers came in from Malinga, right on the block hole. It was a fantastic bit of death bowling from SRH at the back end,” he said. “The first ball he bowled, where he got Gaikwad out, he rushed him with the bouncer. There were a lot of length balls being bowled at that point and runs were flowing. Then, he surprised Gaikwad with the bouncer and got his wicket.
“I thought he bowled well, managed his lengths well, and as the ball got a bit older and started to tail, he managed to hit the block hole. It was a fantastic piece of bowling by this young lad from Sri Lanka,” Steyn said.
The former speedster also shared his thoughts on Klaasen’s batting, as his 39-ball 59 kept the middle-order together and ensured SRH had enough on the board.
“Klaasen knows he has the potential to clear the ropes easily and up his strike-rate whenever he wants. He is such a boundary hitter, a powerful hitter. This season, he has played incredibly well and held the innings together for the Sunrisers.
“Whenever they get into a little trouble and lose a couple of wickets, Klaasen is always there, standing like a one-man army to bail them out and get them to good scores. He is also wearing the Orange Cap now. With his consistent batting performances, he truly deserves to be the holder of that cap this season,” Steyn concluded.
