Top 3 scores by Faf du Plessis in the IPL
Faf du Plessis has been one of the most consistent overseas batters in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the years. He has scored 3,185 runs in 100 innings at an average of 35.00 and a strike rate of 131.18, with 24 half-centuries to his name.
Faf du Plessis represented Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) before the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) signed him for ₹7.5 crore at this year's IPL mega auction. He was also named as the RCB skipper following Virat Kohli stepping down.
Du Plessis has played many memorable innings in the IPL over the years. Here, we'll take a look at his top three innings, on the basis of scores, in the history of IPL.
#1 96 (55) vs KXIP, Mohali 2019
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) won the toss and elected to bowl first. Faf du Plessis opened the batting with Shane Watson. Even though CSK lost the wicket of Watson for just 7 runs in the 5th over of the innings, Faf maintained a quick scoring rate in the Powerplay.
Faf built a crucial partnership with Suresh Raina after Watson's departure. They rotated the strike extremely well, besides hitting the odd boundary. Their presence ensured that their scoring rate was always close to 8.5 runs per over.
Faf du Plessis started accelerating in the 14th over, hitting a four and a six off Murugan Ashwin. He then smashed Andrew Tye for 2 fours and a six in the next over. CSK looked all set for a great finish. However, Raina's dismissal hampered CSK a bit.
Faf was also dismissed in the penultimate over, after which CSK could only end up with 170/5 in the first innings. Punjab won the match by 6 wickets and with two overs to spare on the back of a KL Rahul masterclass.
#2 96 (64) vs LSG, DY Patil, 2022
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CLASS KNOCK! 🙌🏻
Well played, @faf1307! 👏🏻👏🏻
#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2022 #Mission2022 #RCB #ನಮ್ಮRCB #LSGvRCB https://t.co/29kwOnhPb9
RCB lost the toss and were put in to bat first. They lost two early wickets of Anuj Rawat (7) and Virat Kohli (0) in the very first over of the innings. Glenn Maxwell was quick off the blocks, but was dismissed for 23 by Krunal Pandya in the 6th over.
The captain batted steadily in the first half of his innings, since wickets kept falling at the other end. He built a crucial partnership for the 5th wicket with Shahbaz Ahmad (26). Du Plessis brought up his half-century off 40 deliveries, keeping RCB in the game.
Faf accelerated very well in the death overs. His presence meant that RCB were able to recover from 62/4 to a competitive total of 181/6.
He scored 53 runs off his last 24 deliveries, being dismissed by Jason Holder in the final over of the innings. RCB won the match by 18 runs and Faf won his first Player of the Match award for his new franchise IPL team.
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#3 95*(60) vs KKR, Wankhede, 2021
CSK finishes with 220/3. An excellent innings from Faf Du Plessis - 95 in 60 balls. A perfect finishing from Faf, the way he played today deserved the century. Ruturaj Gaikwad also played well for his 64, MS Dhoni smashed a good cameo of 17. https://t.co/szovJc3VYi
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the toss and elected to field first at Wankhede Stadium. Faf du Plessis walked out to open the innings alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad - a pair that was pivotal to CSK's success in the 2021 edition of the tournament.
Faf started his innings with positive intent, scoring 31(21) in the Powerplay overs. He attacked Pat Cummins and Varun Chakravarthy and did not allow the Knight Riders to make any early inroads. He slowed down a bit from overs 6 to 11, as Gaikwad pressed the accelerator.
After Gaikwad's dismissal, Faf du Plessis was the pivot for the CSK batting. He decided to take on Prasidh Krishna. Moeen's brilliant cameo of 25 also helped him build a solid innings.
The former South Africa captain hit Andre Russell for 3 consecutive fours in the penultimate over and smashed 2 sixes off Cummins in the final over of the innings. CSK won the match by 18 runs, as Russell and Cummins gave them a late scare with the bat.