Thought Shardul Thakur was tail-ender, but he batted better than me: Faf du Plessis on IPL 2018 Qualifier vs SRH

The IPL 2018 Qualifier 1 was one hell of a rollercoaster ride. Playing against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings chasing a target of 140 was stuck in a situation that nobody had expected. With 23 runs still to be needed off just 12 balls, Shardul Thakur walked into partner Faf du Plessis. Eight wickets were down already and the pressure was on CSK. However, an unexpected cameo from Thakur along with support from Du Plessis sealed a thrilling win for the men in yellow.

Talking about that match, Du Plessis revealed how it felt carrying CSK into the final almost single-handedly with some assistance of Thakur in the end. The South African batsman described the situation when CSK lost six wickets with just 62 runs on the board. Chennai still needed 78 runs at this moment from 45 balls.

‘It was just me left’: Faf du Plessis

“We were in huge trouble as we had lost all our wickets. Its one of those games where you hope you can do something great but it seems a long way away when everyone’s out and just me left,” said Du Plessis in a video posted on the CSK YouTube channel.

Talking about the cameo from Thakur, Faf said he in fact batted better than him. In the penultimate over, Thakur played five balls and scored 15 runs. He hit three crucial fours which brought down the equation to six runs from just six balls.

“But the guys who came in, I remember Shardul was unbelievable. I have never seen him bat before, so he came in and I was like probably gonna be tail-ender. He is going to hit one and then he’s gonna get out. But he batted even better than me there for a while. He was unbelievable!” recalled former SA skipper.

The South African smashed the first ball of the last over for a six to seal the victory. Du Plessis ended with a score of 67 runs from 42 balls. Opening the innings for CSK, he kept them in the game until the very end. His resilence and Thakur’s cameo, in the end, ensured that CSK qualified for the final. The MS Dhoni-led side won the IPL a few days later defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad once again in the final.