News Analysis India

Tag: Faf du Plessis

  • IPL 2022: Punjab Kings stun RCB by five wickets in high-scoring tie

    Express News Service

    BENGALURU: There were a lot of similarities between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings, ahead of their first game of IPL 2022 in Mumbai on Sunday. Despite possessing a star-studded line-up in the past, both teams have underachieved, failing to win the title.

    The 15th edition is a fresh guard for both with two new captains. If Faf Du Plessis has been handed the responsibility for Bangalore, Mayank Agarwal was the chosen one for Punjab.

    If their first game is any indication, Du Plessis has taken the new responsibility like duck to water, top-scoring with 88 runs to help his team score 205/2, a challenging score on any surface. One also needs to applaud Virat Kohli, who helped Du Plessis get into the groove with the former scoring runs quite briskly. 

    But then, there was no way Punjab could be taken easily, especially with established T20 players in their side. Punjab did manage to score at a good rate in the powerplay, with Agarwal leading from the front, scoring a 24-ball 32.

    That set the tone for the other batters as they reached their 100 in the 11th over with Shikhar Dhawan bringing in all his experience into play while Bhanuka Rajapaksa brought his A-game. Odean Smith and Shahrukh Khan put up an unbeaten 52-run partnership in 25 balls to seal the match. 

    Brief scores: RCB 205/2 in 20 overs (Du Plessis 88) lost to PBKS 208/5 in 19 overs (Rajapaksa 43, Dhawan 43, Agarwal 32, Odean 25 n.o)

  • IPL 2021 final: Du Plessis leads the way for Chennai Super Kings, 193 target for Kolkata Knight Riders

    By Agencies

    DUBAI: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Faf du Plessis scored 86 not out to lead the team to target of 192/3 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the final of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 here at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday.

    Openers Du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad gave the three-time champions a solid start which was backed by quick-fire innings by Robin Uthappa and Moeen Ali.

    KKR’s bowlers had an bad on the field with the exception of Sunil Narine, who grabbed 2 wickets. 

  • IPL 2021: MS Dhoni knows what he’s doing, pleasure to play under him, says Faf du Plessis

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opening batsman Faf du Plessis has said that skipper MS Dhoni knows what he is doing in the middle and it is an absolute honour to play under the former India skipper in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

    CSK hammered KKR bowlers all around the park to register a score of 220/3 in the allotted 20 overs. Faf du Plessis remained unbeaten on 95 while Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 64 runs off just 42 balls. Skipper MS Dhoni also scored 17 runs off eight balls while Jadeja dispatched his first and only ball of the innings for a six.

    “This was the most fluent I’ve felt so far. Felt the previous game things started to get better. Tonight was another step. It’s about the rhythm of the flow of the hands. Few games before this and even tonight spinners were the best bowlers. Even Jadeja bowled well for us. The ball just grips a bit. We thought the seamers from the other side we can catch up,” du Plessis told host broadcaster Star Sports at the post-match presentation.

    “Gaikwad is a fantastic young talent. Those first couple of balls you can feel on edge as a batter. Beautiful to see him trust the timing and the technique. For a small guy he hits the ball a long way. Been very lucky playing under MS for a long time. He knows what he’s doing, pleasure to play under him. There was dew tonight and then it was a proper batter’s game. That’s when Russell’s at his dangerous when he’s got nothing to lose,” he added.

    At one stage, KKR was left reeling at 31/5 but Andre Russell and Pat Cummins played knocks of 54 and 66 to keep Eoin Morgan’s side in the hunt, but CSK managed to hold their nerve to register a thrilling victory.

    No one from KKR’s top-order managed to stay at the crease for long as Deepak Chahar scalped four wickets. In the end, the target proved too much for Morgan’s side to chase.

    CSK is currently at the top of the points table with 6 points from four games. The side will next take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Sunday.

  • Faf du Plessis became the 11th batsman to be dismissed for 199 runs in Test cricket

    South Africa took a 1-0 lead in the two-match series by defeating Sri Lanka, who were struggling with an injury problem, by an innings and 45 runs in the first Test cricket match here on Tuesday. Five Sri Lankan players are injured, out of which Dhananjay DeSilva did not even come out to bat in the second innings. Sri Lanka’s team were dismissed for 180 runs in their second innings shortly after lunch on the fourth day.

    This match is part of the World Test Championship and thus South Africa got 60 points from the win. The most unique thing in this Test match was that Faf du Plessis missed a double century and was dismissed for 199 runs. In the history of Test cricket, Faf du Plessis became the 11th batsman in the world to be dismissed for 199 runs. The last time Dean Elgar was dismissed for 199 runs in the Test. On the one hand, where Duplessis remained 1 run away from a double century, during this Test match, he completed 4 thousand runs in Test cricket. Before this match, he had 3901 runs in his account and completing the 99th run, he touched the figure of four thousand runs.

  • Economy of Delhi bowlers less than 8

    After 40 matches in the IPL, Delhi Capitals are first in the points table and Chennai Super Kings are in the last place. No one expected 8-time finalist Chennai to have such a position before the tournament started. Delhi is commanded by 26-year-old Shreyas Iyer. Iyer himself is at number 6 in terms of scoring the most runs in the tournament by scoring 335 runs in 10 matches.

    In bowling, 25-year-old Kagiso Rabada has taken the highest 21 wickets in 10 matches. Talking about the three leading bowlers of the team, all three have given runs with an economy of less than 8. All three are under 30 years of age. At the same time, two out of three major bowlers of Chennai are over 30 and their economy is also more than 9. Dhawan, Hetmyer, Stoinis and Prithvi Shaw have scored more than 140 strike rates for the team. In the playing XI, only Shardul (29), Deepak Chahar (28), Karan (22) are under 30 years of age. The team also has a shortage of fast bowlers who can bowl at a speed of 140 kmph. Chennai has none of the top-10 bowlers taking the most wickets. So far only Faf du Plessis has a better strike rate than 140 among the leading batsmen.