Twitter Reactions: Faf du Plessis continues to propel Paarl Rocks

Paarl have climbed to the third position in the points table with their third win of the season.

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Paarl Rocks
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Paarl Rocks. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Ever since Faf du Plessis has arrived, Paarl Rocks’ fortunes have changed dramatically. He took up the captaincy as well and has propelled his team to the third position now with an authoritative victory over the Durban Heat at home. Chasing the total of 155 runs, Du Plessis remained unbeaten on 78 off 49 balls while batting at number three with nine fours as the Heat suffered their fifth loss in six matches in the ongoing Mzansi Super League (MSL).

After winning the toss, the Heat opted to bat first surprisingly as it hasn’t been the trend in the tournament so far. However, at the start, the move seemed to have worked for them courtesy their openers, Sarel Erwee and Morne van Wyk. They added 65 runs for the opening wicket with the former scoring 32 off 22 and his partner accumulating 33 runs before Tabraiz Shamsi pinned him in front of the stumps.

The first wicket led to a significant dip in run-rate for the visitors and the bowlers pounced on. The wickets kept on falling even as Khaya Zondo tried to up the ante. From 65/0, the Heat slipped to 105/5 in the 16th over and it was only due to Vernon Philander’s quickfire 30 off 16 balls that they could reach 154 runs for the loss of six wickets after 20 overs. Zondo played second fiddle to him scoring 38 runs.

Straight-forward chase

One felt that the late impetus might have tilted the game towards the Durban Heat, but that wasn’t the case. The home side was dealt with a major blow as Henry Davids was retired hurt as he was facing trouble with his hamstring. However, it proved to be a blessing in disguise as the skipper Du Plessis controlled the game nicely with his batting masterclass.

He stitched a partnership of 68 runs with the other opener Aiden Markram who smashed 48 runs off 39 balls and took the initiative in the early part of the innings. However, he missed out to cross the 50-run mark with Brandon Mavuta spinning the web. This turned out to be the only success for the Heat in the innings as Vaughn van Jaarsveld too got going swiftly.

Despite not hitting any six during the innings, the Paarl Rocks overhauled the target comfortably in the end with nine wickets in hand in the last over.

Here’s how Twitter reacted during the match:

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