‘Opening for Chennai was good for my game’ – du Plessis

Du Plessis, who has been a middle-order batsman for the bulk of his career, has spent a huge chunk of his time with the Chennai franchise as an opening batsman, including in the 2019 edition, where he partnered Shane Watson at the top of the order.

The South Africa captain has had a successful season batting in that position, with 370 runs at an average of 37 and a strike-rate of 120.12. Those runs have included three fifties, including one in the second Qualifier on Friday, 10 May, when his 39-ball 50 set the tone for a successful chase of 148 and sealed Chennai’s eighth appearance in the tournament final in 10 seasons.

"Obviously, my career, I've always batted 3 and 4," du Plessis said. "So the first time I really got an opportunity to open was with Chennai, because that's where the gap is. Suresh [Raina] has batted No.3 since he was 18 for Chennai, and he's going to bat there for, I suppose, a few more years. Even [MS] Dhoni sometimes bats at 4 or 5.

"So the opportunity for me was to open the batting, especially after [Michael] Hussey left. South Africa team, I bat [at] three, it's probably my best role. It was good for me to just grow my game, just batting different circumstances."

Du Plessis’ performance on Friday was yet another testament to his ability to deliver under pressure. The South Africa captain has a penchant for the big stage, where he consistently delivers – look no further than his Test debut, when he produced a backs-to-the-wall 110*, spending close to eight hours at the crease, as South Africa salvaged a draw against Australia, with just two wickets in hand.

On Friday, du Plessis again rose to the occasion, with Chennai already having squandered one chance of making the final, and shifted gears effortlessly after a slow start.

Du Plessis’ efforts also afforded Shane Watson time to find his flow. Together, they put on 81 for the first wicket and shut the doors on Delhi Capitals. It was only their third fifty-plus stand in 11 innings this season. Four of their last five stands had ended in single digits.

"The nature of our whole batting line-up is we haven't been in our best form, because we haven't been playing on a flat wicket all the time," du Plessis said. "So, naturally, you need a few more balls to hit the ball middle of the bat. Once we get through that, we generally score quicker. We saw that innings where Watson got 96 - once he gets through the Powerplay, he plays really well. So that's a real strength of ours just to get through that, and it just frees up all the players."

Lead image – AFP