Who is Leus du Plooy? 5 interesting facts about the left-hander who scored an unbeaten 163 in a T10 game
Leus du Plooy scripted history while playing for Hungary in the European Cricket Championship (ECC). One of the most established cricketers to have ever played in the tournament, du Plooy went berserk and smashed a scintillating 163 off a mere 40 deliveries against Turkey on Thursday.
The Turkey bowlers had just no answers infront of his brutal onslaught. He was just too good and kept toying with the bowlers.
It was also the highest individual score in any form of T10 cricket. The swashbuckling left-hander's historic knock was studded with four fours and 23 sixes.
Records kept tumbling one after the other as the bowlers kept serving it on a plate and du Plooy kept smashing it out of the park. Seeing the power of the man who has played all his career smashing sixes with much longer boundaries was incredible.
It came as a blessing in disguise for Hungary when Leus du Plooy made himself available for this tournament. He took ECS by storm by smashing 93 in his opening game before going to a whole new level.
His knock helped Hungary post 220/1 in their 10 overs, which is also the highest international score in the ECC.
That said, let us have a look at five interesting facts about the powerful left-hander:
#1. Early life and career
Leus du Plooy was born in Gauteng, Pretoria in South Africa to Hungarian parents. He holds a Hungarian passport, which gave him an opportunity to represent Hungary in the T10 competition.
Du Plooy began his career in the Rainbow nation having made his maiden appearance in a T20 game for Free State back in 2014. He continued to dominate at both first class and limited overs level, smashing runs for fun.
He had already established himself as a top-class batter in the South African domestic circuit. An average of 48.08 alongside nine first-class hundreds were enough to prove his credentials.
#2. The switch to England
It was in 2019 that du Plooy faced the biggest professional decision of his life when he was offered a two-year Kolpak deal by Derbyshire.
It was a big decision for the left-hander as he already had a franchise contract in his native South Africa. His international aspirations took a blow when he decided to sign the deal.
He took the decision after getting advice from Jacques Rudolph, who was himself a former South African player and a county stalwart.
The switch paid dividends as du Plooy emerged as a prolific run scorer in the county championship. He was appointed as the captain of Derbyshire ahead of the 2023 county season.
"It was almost a now or never type of situation and I am very glad I did it because I love playing cricket over here," du Plooy had said before the start of the championship.
#3. Du Plooy's aspirations of playing international cricket
Having switched to England in 2019, du Plooy is still hopeful of playing international cricket. While he wants to represent England, which has become his second home, he is also open to representing his native country, South Africa.
Du Plooy will become eligible to play for England in 2024. While he is open to a South Africa call-up, that will all but end his county career.
"I would love to play for England one day, even though it is not my birth country. It is a country that I have grown to love and I believe that you can love two countries at once," du Plooy said ahead of the county season.
"I’m going to try my best to score as many runs as possible at the moment and the rest will take care of itself," he added.
He sounded very confident and given his batting attributes and ability to play pace and spin equally well, du Plooy feels that he is good enough to represent any country at the international level.
"I firmly believe that I am good enough to represent any country at the international level,” he said.
#4. A brilliant opening season in the SA20
While du Plooy piled on runs at the domestic level, the global audience was yet to see his exploits and the inaugural edition of the SA20 provided him with the platform to make a name for himself on the world stage.
Playing for the Joburg Super Kings, du Plooy scored 249 runs in eight innings at an exceptional average of 62.25. Two knocks in particular oozed class and it showed that the swashbuckling left-hander belongs at this level.
He smashed a 48-ball 81 against MI Cape Town and a 40-ball 75 against the Durban Capitals. He took down the likes of Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Jofra Archer, Anrich Nortje in the process and looked at complete control.
"Confidence is everything.I think you really start to believe once you start to perform at a certain level, facing those top-class bowlers and managing to get a few runs against them,” du Plooy said after his SA20 stint.
#5. A blistering debut for Hungary
Du Plooy made himself available to play for Hungary in the ongoing ECC and made an immediate impact. The swashbuckling left-hander scored a belligerent 93 against Finland besides picking three wickets.
He went berserk in the very next game against Turkey, smashing the inexperienced bowlers to all corners of the Cartama Oval in Spain. Du Plooy scored 163 of 40 deliveries, which included four fours and 23 sixes.
He also took a couple of wickets and will look to continue his blitzkrieg as the tournament progresses. It was evident that du Plooy was just too good and could end up breaking quite a few records in the tournament.