Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Former South Africa cricketer Dale Steyn on Sunday said Sunrisers Hyderabad’s win over Chennai Super Kings could prove to be a turning point for the Ishan Kishan-led side in IPL 2026. Sunrisers Hyderabad, who last won the IPL title in 2016, their only triumph, defeated five-time champions CSK by 10 runs in a thriller on Saturday.With this victory, SRH also climbed into the top four of the standings.Speaking about SRH’s win on Star Sports, Steyn said, “This victory of SRH against CSK shows that they are back to their best after a slow start to the season.”Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen starred with the bat to power SRH to 194/9, and the bowlers responded strongly to restrict CSK to 184/8, with Eshan Malinga picking up 3/29 in four overs.“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.
“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,” the former South Africa star said.During the discussion, Steyn, who has represented SRH in the past, also highlighted Malinga’s performance at the death and Klaasen’s consistency.“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.“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.After Abhishek’s explosive start at the top, Klaasen provided the innings with the required momentum in the middle overs.On Klaasen’s batting, Steyn said, “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 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.”
