Furious Heinrich Klaasen attacks umpires after being denied no ball, lashes out at SRH crowd: ‘Very disappointed’
Heinrich Klaasen was visibly furious after a controversial umpiring call followed unruly behaviour from the SRH crowd during the game against LSG.
Controversy erupted in the game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants on Saturday afternoon after the crowd in Hyderabad had a heated exchange with LSG members near the dugout. The things seemingly escalated after the Sunrisers were surprisingly denied a no ball for height, despite the ball appearing to go past Heinrich Klaasen above the waist. The batter was visibly stunned with the decision and had an animated chat with the leg umpire, which was eventually followed by unruly behaviour from the crowd.
The match was halted for many minutes and both, Klaasen and his batting partner Abdul Samad lost momentum; while the South African batter was dismissed in the same over, Samad could score only one six in the final over of the innings as the SRH added 9 runs off the remaining seven deliveries post the incident.
Also read: Watch: Furious SRH crowd break into 'Kohli' chant after heated exchange with LSG members over bizarre no-ball call
Klaasen was frustrated even during the mid-match interview, as he slammed the umpires for poor decision-making and also lashed out at the crowd in Hyderabad.
“Disappointed with the crowd. That's not what you want at the venue. Very disappointed (because) that broke our momentum. Not a great umpiring decision being made there, but it's part of the game,” Klaasen said.
Reflecting on SRH's innings as they finished on 182/6 in 20 overs, Klaasen – who top-scored with 47 runs – stated that Krunal's twin-wicket over impacted the pace of the innings.
“The wicket changed quickly in the middle. There was some spin and decent amount of bounce, there were a few rippers (by Krunal - Markram and Phillips' wicket.) That broke the moment, it was difficult to play the harder length balls. Need to bowl length and slower ones into the wicket, can't be too full. It's not a bad wicket, but it's a bit slow,” Klaasen said.
The SRH are currently ninth in the league table but can leapfrog to sixth place if they register a big win over the Super Giants on Saturday.