Twitter Reactions: Klaasen blitzkrieg earns Durban Super Giants thrilling win in Kingsmead run-fest

The fans at Kingsmead, Durban witnessed a thrill-a-minute ride on Thursday, January 11, as Durban Super Giants defeated MI Cape Town by 11 runs (DLS method) to start their SA20 2024 campaign on a high.

On a belter of a track, Keshav Maharaj won the toss and elected to bowl first. Ryan Rickelton took the attack to the Durban bowlers and scored an enterprising 51-ball 87, belting six fours and as many sixes. However, he slowed down a bit towards the latter phase of his innings.

Liam Livingstone and Connor Esterhuizen hit five sixes between them and helped Cape Town keep the momentum during the innings. However, it was skipper Kieron Pollard's unbeaten cameo of 31 runs off 13 balls that propelled the batting team to a formidable score of 207/5 in 20 overs. Among the Durban bowlers, Keemo Paul stood out, finishing with commendable figures of 2/31 in his four overs.

The hosts got off to a terrible start in their run chase, as they lost two wickets inside the first three overs. Kagiso Rabada dismissed Quinton de Kock for the first time in T20 cricket before Beuran Hendricks got the better of Wiaan Mulder with a peach of a delivery.

Durban decided to promote Keemo ahead of Heinrich Klaasen and Nicholas Pooran, raising a few eyebrows. The West Indies all-rounder hit a couple of boundaries before getting dismissed for a 13-ball 15. Matthew Breetzke and Klaasen joined forces and started a fightback for the Super Giants. They formed a 47-run partnership off 24 balls, which turned out to be the best partnership in the Durban innings.

Breetzke departed after scoring 39 runs off 24 balls. However, Klaasen continued his onslaught. He hit boundaries at will, scoring 30 out of the 41-run partnership with Pooran. When the South African wicketkeeper-batter, who recently retired from Test cricket, was dismissed for a jaw-dropping 35-ball 85, Durban needed just 34 runs off 25 balls, with four wickets in hand. Four fours and eight sixes were hit by Klaasen during his blistering knock.

The umpires stopped play because of rain when Durban were at 177/6 after 16.3 overs, with Dwaine Pretorius and Prenelan Subrayen were at the crease. The rain didn't relent as Durban won by 11 runs via the DLS method. Klaasen was fittingly adjudged Player of the Match.

Here's a look at how 'X' users reacted to the exhilarating encounter: