"Aging like fine wine" - Fans erupt as Faf du Plessis scores 84 off 56 balls vs PBKS in IPL 2023

Faf du Plessis shone for the Royal Challengers Bangalore against Punjab Kings at the PCA Stadium on Thursday, April 20. The right-handed batter smashed 84 off 56 balls at a strike rate of 150, including five sixes and as many boundaries.

The 38-year-old also shared a partnership of 137 runs with Virat Kohli for the opening wicket. Du Plessis was finally caught by Sam Curran at long-off during the 18th over bowled by Nathan Ellis.

The special knock came even as Faf suffered a rib injury during the RCB vs CSK game. The Proteas batter is playing as an impact player. He won’t be taking part in the second innings, confirmed stand-in captain Virat Kohli.

Speaking at the toss, Kohli said:

"Faf potentially can't be fielding today, so he'll be playing as an impact player, switching with Vyshak.”

Fans were delighted to witness a masterclass from Faf du Plessis against PBKS. One user tweeted:

"Aging like fine wine."

Here are some of the other Twitter reactions:

Du Plessis has been in exceptional form in IPL 2023, having scored 337 runs in just six innings at a strike rate of 166.50. He has so far smashed four half-centuries against Mumbai Indians (MI), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and PBKS.

The right-handed batter has been one of the most consistent players in the cash-rich league, scoring 3740 runs in 122 matches with the help of 29 half-centuries.

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Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli help RCB set a 175-run target for PBKS

A clinical batting performance from Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli helped Royal Challengers Bangalore post 174/4 in their allotted 20 overs after being asked to bat. Besides Faf, Kohli smashed 59 off 47 balls at a strike rate of 125.53, including a maximum and five boundaries.

Harpreet Brar emerged as the pick of the PBKS bowlers, returning with figures of 2/31. Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh and Nathan Ellis settled for one apiece.

Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Atharva Taide, Matthew Short, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran (c), Jitesh Sharma (w), Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli (c), Faf du Plessis, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (w), Wanindu Hasaranga, Suyash Prabhudessai, Harshal Patel, Wayne Parnell, Mohammed Siraj.

Follow the PBKS vs RCB live score updates here.