I got a few 96 and 97, hopefully IPL century is around the corner: Faf du Plessis

The Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis feels that his maiden IPL ton is just around the corner, and is hopeful of getting there soon. Faf kick-started his journey at the IPL 2022 with a blistering knock of 88 runs for a new side in RCB, as Chennai Super Kings released him ahead of the auction.

Though he started off well marking a great entry, his form soon vanished as he managed to score only 66 runs in RCB’s next five games after their opening match. In RCB’s latest encounter against the Lucknow Super Giants, Faf came back strong with a 64-ball 96 as he fell short of just four runs from getting his maiden IPL century.

There have been instances previously when Faf was dismissed in the 90s, and yet again, his struggle to reach the three-figure mark continues. He opened the innings for RCB and stood strong till the final over of the game before being dismissed. When he was adjudged the Player of the Match during the post-match presentation, he said:

“Due to the nature of this ground, you do run a lot of twos and towards the end, it can be tiring. I got a few 96, and a 97, so hopefully (a century) is around the corner. We needed someone to stabilize the innings and then get going at the back end. Today, grateful that I could do it. Important that I am able to follow my blueprint of batting. If you bowled slow into the wicket to the big boundary, it never felt like you had enough power to clear that boundary. I was tired, but was still hoping that I could hit some at the end.”

Dinesh Karthik has been the saviour for the team: Faf du Plessis

Du Plessis also stated that the team needs a player to anchor the innings and put the game together, and said that Dinesh Karthik has been successful in rescuing the team in that matter. “Need one guy to bat through consistently, but we haven’t had that frequently. DK has saved us quite a bit, hopefully today is a stepping stone in that direction,” he said.

Faf praised another player from the RCB camp, as he said that Harshal Patel has been really good during the death overs and has bowled remarkably well as per the need of the hour. “Before the last two games, it (death bowling) was a concern as we were getting hit in areas we shouldn’t have been. But in the last two games, we’ve got hit to where we’ve wanted to. Harshal has been exceptional, watch out for him, he’s going to be special for the rest of the season too,” he said.

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