Play was halted for several minutes in the second game of the 2024 SA20 as a member of the crowd shone a laser towards Heinrich Klaasen while he was batting.

The incident occurred during the second innings of the game where Durban Super Giants were chasing 208 to win. Klaasen came in at No.5 for the Super Giants after they slipped to 52-3 in the seventh over. He hit two sixes off Thomas Kaber in his second over at the crease and took a four off Olly Stone in the following over as he and Matthew Breetzke took him for 21 runs off six balls.

However, after Breetzke took a single off the fourth ball of the tenth over bowled by Kagiso Rabada, there seemed to be some crowd disturbance which disrupted play. Although it wasn’t initially clear what was causing the delay, it was stated on commentary that someone was shining a laser onto the pitch which disrupted the players’ vision.

The delay only lasted a couple of minutes before play was able to resume. However, three balls after the break, Breetzke was dismissed by Sam Curran after he mistimed a slower ball to Dewald Brevis at long off.

But Klaasen continued to tee-off at the other end. He reached his half-century off 25 balls with consecutive boundaries before hitting two sixes off Liam Livingstone in the same over. As he took the Super Giants closer towards their target, he hit back-to-back sixes off Beuran Hendricks before slamming Rabada for another maximum on the following over. However, he was dismissed by Rabada two balls later miscuing a ball into the deep, finally out for 85 off 35 balls.

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