"I try to get 100s in all the leagues I play" - Faf du Plessis after scoring the first ton of SA20 2022-23
Veteran South African cricketer Faf du Plessis has revealed that he intends to score a hundred for every franchise he plays for. The right-handed batter's statement came after a blazing hundred for the Joburg Super Kings against the Durban Super Giants in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
Chasing 179, the skipper struck an unbeaten 113 off 58 deliveries, laced with eight fours and as many sixes, to lead the Super Kings to a much-needed eight-wicket victory. Du Plessis shared a 157-run partnership with Reeza Hendricks in 16.3 overs to lead the Yellow Army to their fourth win in eight games.
The Moment bullring erupted with JOY! 💛
https://t.co/uNqgI48f8V
Speaking at the post-match presentation, the 38-year-old stated that the wicket was a typical Wanderers track and that he kept telling Hendricks to get him on strike. The former Proteas skipper further said the crowds have been highly enthusiastic and said, as quoted by iol.co.za:
"It is important for me to convert these scores, all the leagues I play I try to get 100s. It was a nice wicket, a little bit sticky, then typical Wanderers, once you get stuck in. Luckily, I was telling him [Reeza] to get me on strike. Batting is about partnerships. Just encouraged him to keep waiting and play it as late as he can, we knew the back-end would be easier. It's so good to be playing cricket in front of the South African crowds. Extremely grateful to the fans to come here and support us. The Bullring is on fire!"
Du Plessis, who became the first centurion of the season, also climbed to second position in the run-scoring charts. The veteran cricketer has accumulated 277 runs in seven games at 46.16 and is behind Jos Buttler, who has 285 in eight matches.
South Africa coach open to having Faf du Plessis in the limited-overs set-up
Meanwhile, South Africa's newly appointed head coach Rob Walter has welcomed the former skipper to the white-ball setup, given the high quality player he is. Speaking to Rapport newspaper, Walter stated:
"Faf has not retired yet. He is still playing very good T20 cricket. He will build his future around T20 leagues. I haven’t spoken to him at all yet, but if he would like to talk about the possibility of playing for South Africa again, I would be open to that. He is a quality player, and the more quality players you have who want to play for South Africa, the better."
BREAKING :
Faf Du Plessis Retires from Test Cricket. https://t.co/FRr7kDML3A
The Pretoria-born player has not played for South Africa since February 2021.