Images from the IPL 2025 match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, on Sunday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad ended their disappointing IPL season with power-packed batting effort, etching a crushing 110-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders riding on Heinrich Klaasen's 37-ball century, in Delhi, on Sunday.
SRH had started the season with a bang posting 286/6 against Rajasthan Royals in their opening game. They repeated that destructive batting performance as Klaasen (105 not out off 39 balls) and Travis Head (76 off 40 balls), who had saved his best for the last, propelled SRH to an unassailable 278/3 in 20 overs.
The pressure of the huge run chase clearly hampered KKR. They were never in the hunt as they were bowled out for 168 in 18.4 overs with seasoned Jaydev Unadkat (2/23 in 3 overs) striking early blows with his clever change of pace.
Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey (3/34 in 4 overs) and Sri Lankan pacer Eshan Malinga (3/31 in 3.4 overs) also enjoyed good outings with the ball.
Despite their batting riches, SRH struggled for consistency as they finished sixth with six victories from 14 matches. On the other hand, defending champions KKR had a season to forget as they managed just five victories from 14 games to finish eighth out of 10 teams.
The rub of the green didn't go SRH's way when it came to small margins and that ultimately became the reason for them missing out on play-off qualifications.
Earlier, Klaasen (105 not out off 39 balls) was way more severe compared to Head as he completed his half-century off just 18 balls after coming in at the fall of opener Abhishek Sharma (32 off 16 balls).
Head, whose form was a bit patchy during the better part of the tournament, was in his elements, scoring 76 off 40 balls with half a dozen sixes and as many boundaries.
But Klaasen (105 not out off 39 balls) was way more severe in completing his half-century off just 18 balls after being promoted to No 3 following the dismissal of opener Abhishek Sharma (32 off 16 balls).
The South African literally continued the mayhem hitting seven fours and nine sixes, most of them into the second tier of the stands.
Klaasen muscled the KKR bowlers and the likes of Anrich Nortje (0/60 in 4 overs), Harshit Rana (0/40 in 3 overs), Varun Chakravarthy (0/54 in 3 overs) and Sunil Narine (2/42 in 4 overs) were all punished on one of the flattest decks on offer.
On a ground where SRH had set the new batting record in 2024, scoring 125 in the Powerplay against Delhi Capitals, Head and his partner in crime Abhishek added 79 in the first six overs to set the tone.
Both Head and Abhishek initially made room and carted pacers over extra cover with utter disdain. The KKR bowling attack has suffered a lot this season whether it has been home or away games.
Their spinners Chakravarthy and Narine didn't have enough bite and when it came to the pacers, Harshit's propensity to use cross-seam variations backfired badly.
As far as Nortje is concerned, the lack of game time was apparent as this was his second match and throughout the duration, he kept searching for that ideal length where he could keep the batter quiet.
The only bowler to escape with slightly lesser punishment was Vaibhav Arora (1/39 in 4 overs) as he was the only KKR to concede under 10 per over.
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