"I'm happy for Faf just to shut down the voices against him" - Twitter hails RCB skipper for sublime half-century against MI in IPL 2024

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Faf du Plessis scored his maiden half-century of IPL 2024 against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhade Stadium on April 11.

After RCB lost star batter Virat Kohli for only 3, Faf took over and led from the front with a well-paced 61 off 40 deliveries. The knock included four boundaries and three maximums.

Faf struggled in the ongoing IPL before this knock, scoring only 109 runs in five innings at an average of under 22. This was after he finished as the tournament's second-leading scorer with 730 runs at an average of over 56, including eight half-centuries.

The veteran batter has been heavily criticized for his dismal form with the bat and questionable moves as skipper this season. However, he seemed to have rediscovered his best form with the willow, much to the delight of fans on Twitter.

Here are a few of the best reactions:

The appreciation continued for Faf with one fan saying:

"Faf is leading the team with bat by example at Wankhede, fifty from 33 balls against Mumbai Indians, a very good knock when RCB was under huge pressure."

Opponent will fear cause faf is here. Fifty for our captain," said another fan.

"Captain leading from the front. Fifty when team need the most, Faf du plessis," tweeted another fan.

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RCB set MI a challenging target of 197 for victory

After solid half-centuries from Faf du Plessis and Rajat Patidar, it was the Dinesh Karthik show at the Wankhede Stadium. The wicketkeeper-batter finished with a blistering knock of 53* from 23 deliveries to propel RCB to a formidable total of 196/8 in 20 overs.

As for MI, Jasprit Bumrah stood tall once again, picking up figures of 5/21 in his four overs. However, his heir apparent Akash Madhwal had a forgettable outing, finishing with woeful figures of 1/57.

Both teams have endured a horrific start to their respective seasons, with MI (1-3) in eighth and RCB (1-4) in ninth in the points table. It makes winning the ongoing encounter crucial to get back into the playoffs reckoning, setting up for a potential humdinger in the second innings.

RCB are on a three-match losing streak coming into this contest, while MI finally opened their account with a win over DC in the latest fixture.