Photo Credit: SA20 League
Sunrisers Eastern Cape off-spinner Simon Harmer has revealed that he arrived at Kingsmead with a special plan to contain the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen.
It has been well documented that Durban’s Super Giants star Klaasen is arguably the most destructive player of spin in the world.
Harmer certainly felt the full force of Klaasen’s blade in the last encounter at St George’s Park when the off-spinner conceded 53 runs off his three overs.
But returning to Kingsmead, which was also his home ground last season, the wily Harmer was much better prepared for the danger lurking around the corner.
“The emotions were completely different the last time we played them in PE, luckily things came off for me. Learning from the mistakes from the past, coming over the wicket and allowing the batters to free the arms, going round the wicket and cramping them,” Harmer said.
“Lots of their batters play off the back foot, we all know Klaasen is a great player of spin, the plan was to rush them a bit and take away their arms. You always know Klaasie is coming for you, he is a really good player of spin, he hits balls three-quarters on the stumps out of the ground, I was trying to hit the leather and the stickers of the bat, worked out for me.”
The plan certainly worked with Harmer bagging the brilliant figures of 4/18 to restrict DSG to 159/7, which SEC chased down with five wickets to spare.
Harmer’s scalps on the day were Matthew Breetzke, Jon-Jon Smuts, Marcus Stoinis, and of course the big one of Klaasen, who was unable to create the elevation to clear long on.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape captain Aiden Markram was also full for Harmer’s show of character in being able to bounce back after his disappointing debut at St George’s Park.
“Scrappy win with some really good individual performances helped us get over the line,” Markram said.
“(Harmer’s performance) Was quite special, quite risky with the right-handers but he got lots of shape and lots of drop, fantastic spell that allowed us not to chase too many.”
The defending champions have now moved back into contention for a playoff spot after two consecutive victories on the road in Cape Town and Durban.
Name of Author: SA20 League
SA20, officially known as the Betway SA20 for sponsorship reasons, is a Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament in South Africa organized by Cricket South Africa (CSA). First held in the 2023 season, the league features six city-based teams. Sunrisers Eastern Cape won the first two editions of the tournament.
