BCCI photo.
New Delhi: Sunrisers Hyderabad began the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 by posting the second-best score in tournament history before suffering a dramatic collapse and losing their chance at entering the playoffs. However, in their final match of the season at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, SRH displayed their usual aggressive batting, scoring a massive 278/3 on a flat pitch and setting the tone for thrashing Kolkata Knight Riders by 110 runs, IANS reported.
Earlier on the day, Afghan spinner Noor Ahmad and India's Anshul Khamboj took three wickets each, while Ravindra Jadeja claimed two scalps to trigger a batting collapse as Chennai Super Kings bundled out hosts Gujarat Titans for 147 in 18.3 overs for a big win in Match 67.
With a cacophony of cheers from the Orange Army in a decent crowd, Heinrich Klaasen stole the show by smashing an unbeaten 105 off just 39 balls and propelled SRH to the third-highest score in IPL’s history. Klaasen’s astounding century came in just 37 balls- the joint-third fastest hundred in IPL history.
His amazing innings included seven fours and nine sixes, coming at a strike rate of 269.23. Klaasen made his promotion to number three count by unleashing his prowess in consistently playing shots straight down the ground while punishing anything short by pulling with immaculate ease.
While hitting his second IPL hundred, Klaasen received strong support from Travis Head, who hit a brilliant 76 off 40 balls—his third IPL 2025 fifty, including six fours and six sixes. Cameos from Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Aniket Verma further boosted SRH as they scored 74 runs in the last five overs.
KKR had to attack from the word go to have a crack at chasing 279, but three-fers from Eshan Malinga and Harsh Dubey, along with Jaydev Undakat’s early strikes, bowled them out for 168 in 18.4 overs. While SRH jumped to sixth place in the points table, KKR ended their campaign with their biggest-ever defeat in the IPL.
KKR’s disastrous evening began with a bowling performance which was utterly forgettable and inconsistent - their pacers and spinners were hammered by SRH’s aggressive batters, who plundered runs freely throughout the innings on wayward lengths, even in the middle overs.
Throughout the evening, their bowling was consistently too short or too full, a faulty strategy that significantly reduced their penetration with the ball, leaving Klassen-powered SRH in a prime position to conclude their season with a big victory.
Electing to bat first, after a quiet opening over, Head pulled Anrich Nortje for a powerful six before Abhishek dispatched him for successive boundaries, as 20 runs came off the second over. Head then flicked and smacked Vaibhav Arora for two sixes while punching him for four as 19 runs came off the third over.
Head’s onslaught continued as he feasted on Harshit Rana’s wayward lines to hit three fours in the fourth over, while Abhishek superbly lofted and pulled Nortje for consecutive boundaries in the next over. Fittingly, Head smacked Rana over mid-wicket for six as SRH ended the power-play at 79/0.
Abhishek’s smacking game continued when he swatted Sunil Narine for successive sixes before toe-ending off the spinner to mid-wicket and falling for a 16-ball 32. But there was no stopping Head as he went back to pull Varun Chakaravarthy over deep mid-wicket for six and got his fifty in 26 balls, as it also brought up SRH’s hundred in just 7.2 overs.
From the other end, Klaasen joined the boundary-hitting party by taking a six and four each off Chakaravarthy and Narine, respectively. Chakaravarthy came under the pump at the halfway mark as Head smacked him over long-off for six before Klaasen hit him for three boundaries, as 20 runs came off it.
KKR called up Andre Russell to conjure some magic, but Klaasen and Head hit three boundaries collectively in a 17-run over. Klaasen smacked a listless Rana for four and two sixes, the second of which got his fifty in just 17 balls. Though Head holed out to long-off against Narine and went back for a 40-ball 76, Klaasen and Kishan ensured the boundary-hitting spree didn’t suffer – the former would rotate strike easily, allowing the latter to keep attacking KKR’s bowlers.
After Kishan cut Arora for four while lofting and flicking with aplomb to get a four and six off Nortje, Klaasen smashed Narine for two sixes before muscling Chakaravarthy for successive maximums, as SRH reached their 200 in the 15th over. After Kishan got a four off Russell via toe-end, Klaasen slammed downtown and glanced the all-rounder for six and another boundary.
Though Kishan sliced to deep point and walked back for a 19-ball 29, Klaasen got the brace which took him to his century on the last ball of the 19th over and celebrated it in a stoic mode amidst applause from the sparse crowd. Aniket pulled and drove with an open face of the bat to take six and four off Nortje before Klaasen chipped him through extra cover to ensure he remained unbeaten on 105 in a knock coming from SRH school of batting.
Chasing 279 was always going to be an uphill task, but Narine was off the blocks from the word go by smacking three sixes and a four off Pat Cummins' first two overs while collecting two edgy boundaries off Unadkat. But left-arm pacer Unadkat brought out a slower ball to go past Narine and hit his leg stump as the batter fell for a 16-ball 31.
Ajinkya Rahane hit three boundaries before miscuing an off-cutter off Unadkat and was caught by cover. Two overs later, Quinton de Kock's struggle ended at a 13-ball nine as he holed out to deep mid-wicket off a full toss from Malinga.
With the Delhi pitch being traditionally better for spinners, left-arm spinner Dubey struck on back-to-back deliveries - Rinku Singh holed out to deep mid-wicket, while Russell was trapped plumb lbw by a delivery which turned enough to beat his outside edge.
Despite some boundaries from Manish Pandey and Angkrish Raghuvanshi, KKR’s freefall continued as the latter pulled to deep square leg off Malinga, while Dubey foxed Ramandeep Singh with a quicker delivery, spinning in to hit the stumps.
KKR were saved from suffering one of the worst defeats in IPL by some belligerent hitting from Pandey and Rana. While Rana hit three sixes in his first seven balls, Pandey brought out some clean-hitting strokes before falling to Unadkat, while Malinga took Rana’s catch on the second attempt to ensure SRH ended the season on a powerful note.
Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 278/3 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 105, Travis Head 76; Sunil Narine 2-42, Vaibhav Arora 1-39) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 168 all out in 18.4 overs (Manish Pandey 37, Sunil Narine 31; Eshan Malinga 3-31, Harsh Dubey 3-34) by 110 runs.
The afternoon match on the day turned out to be a Super Sunday for Chennai Super Kings as the five-time champions ended their season with a massive 83-run victory over Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
This is a massive result in the scope of the IPL playoffs. With this loss, Gujarat Titans' hopes of finishing among the top two are in serious jeopardy. The winner of the clash between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings on Monday will move past them in the table, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru could push them down further into an Eliminator spot with a win over Lucknow Super Giants in the final league game of the season.
Opting to bat first, CSK rode on fifties by Dewald Brevis and Devon Conway, coupled with quick-fire innings by young guns Ayush Mhatre and Urvish Patel, to post a massive total of 230/5 in 20 overs.
With a big total to defend, skipper M.S. Dhoni began the second innings by entrusting the ball to his most experienced bowler, Ravindra Jadeja, and he responded by conceding seven runs in the first over. Shubman Gill (13) and Sai Sudharsan (41) got off the mark with a boundary each off Khaleel Ahmed in the next over.
Gill then played a glorious straight drive after coming down the pitch and dispatched Kamboj for a six down the ground. However, the 24-year-old Kamboj struck back on the next delivery, finding Gill’s outside edge, which went to Urvil Patel in the slips.
Things went from bad to worse for Gujarat Titans when Jos Buttler (7) slashed at Khaleel’s back-of-the-length delivery outside off, which Kamboj made no mistake in grabbing a catch. Sherfane Rutherford’s brief time at the crease came to an end when he mistimed a pull shot and departed for a duck for Kamboj’s second wicket on the day to reduce GT to 35/3 by the end of the power-play.
Sudharsan stood tall at one end, playing a gritty knock, trying to prevent a collapse. He added 54 runs in partnership with Shahrukh Khan (19) for the fourth wicket. The duo started to ramp up in the 10th over and conjured 18 runs off Shivam Dube, but Jadeja refused to let GT back in the game and claimed the scalps of both batters in the next over.
A thick edge off the bat of Shahrukh, on the first ball of the over, saw the ball go to Pathirana at short third-man, which the Sri Lankan quick almost fumbled. Sudharsan soon followed his partner to the dugout when a slightly shorter delivery saw him hit straight to Dube at backward point.
From thereon, GT virtually stood little to no chance of clawing back into the game.
Rashid Khan (12) fell, after hitting a four and a six, to national team compatriot Noor Ahmad. Matheesha Pathrina uprooted Gerald Coetzee’s (5) leg stump. Rahul Tewatia (14) and Arshad Khan (20) treated the fans in Ahmedabad for a few maximums but could not provide much relief as both fell to Noor Ahmad, who moved past Prasidh Krishna to grab the Purple Cap worn by the leading wicket-taker.
Kamboj was reintroduced into attack in the penultimate over and claimed his third and final wicket of the match by dismissing Sai Kishore to seal the 83-run victory.
Earlier, in the first innings, Ayush Mhatre gave his side a strong start, which included 28 runs off Arshad Khan in the second over before a slower-fullish delivery by Prasidh Krishna saw the 17-year-old try and get under it but mistiming it straight to Siraj at mid-off to end his 17-ball blitz.
Urvish Patel started his innings strongly with a six off Siraj before Conway struck Prasidh for consecutive boundaries to tie CSK’s highest power-play score for the season with 68/1 in the six overs.
Sai Kishore dismissed Patel after being hit for a six on the first ball of the 10th over as the natter sliced the ball to Gill at extra cover. Shivam Dube did not take too long to get going and smashed Kishore for a six straight down the ground to get off the mark.
With Conway getting closer to his fifty, Shahrukh Khan dismissed Dube to claim his first wicket in the tournament. A full-length ball, angled towards the batter's pads, saw Gerald Coetzee take a simple catch.
The Kiwi batter reached his 11th tournament half-century with a six off Rashid in 34 deliveries in an innings laced with six boundaries and two maximums before being bowled over on the next delivery.
While Ravindra Jadeja rotated the strike, Dewald Brevis kept CSK on course for a huge total. A maximum off Rashid, a six and four off Coetzee, followed by a reverse sweep boundary off Arshad, saw CSK reach the 200-run mark with two overs to spare.
From there, the Proteas batter switched gears and smashed Siraj for consecutive sixes before finding the boundary, and the backward point saw Brevis score his second half-century of the season in 19 deliveries.
Prasidh continued his economical bowling in the final over, barring one six, and went for nine runs before a short ball, on the final delivery of the innings, saw Brevis edge the ball, which went straight up, and Jos Buttler made no mistake in completing the catch.
CSK will be relieved to end the season with a victory. Unfortunately, they could not elevate their net run rate to move past the Rajasthan Royals and confirmed their bottom-placed finish for the first time in franchise history.
Brief scores:
Chennai Super Kings 230/5 in 20 overs (Dewald Brevis 57, Devon Conway 52; Prasidh Krishna 2-22, Rashid Khan 1-42) beat Gujarat Titans 147 all out in 18.3 overs (Sai Sudharsan 41, Arshad Khan 20; Anshul Kamboj 3-13, Noor Ahmad 3-21, Ravindra Jadeja 2-17) by 83 runs