IPL 2022: Aakash Chopra lauds Faf du Plessis' match-winning knock for RCB vs LSG

Aakash Chopra has pointed out that the captain's knock played by Faf du Plessis was mainly instrumental in the Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) IPL 2022 win against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

Du Plessis scored 96 runs off 64 balls to help RCB set a 182-run target for LSG in last night's Indian Premier League encounter. Their bowlers then restricted KL Rahul's side to a score of 163/8 to win the match by 18 runs.

While reviewing the RCB-LSG game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra picked Faf du Plessis as the star performer ahead of Josh Hazlewood. He reasoned:

"I will go with Faf du Plessis. Of course, Josh Hazlewood has a very strong case but I am not talking about Josh because you wouldn't have reached till here. Let's be honest, it was a decent pitch, the boundary on one side was very short but when you lose two wickets in the first over of the game - Dushmantha Chameera first dismisses Anuj Rawat and then Kohli for a golden duck - then you feel you are gone."

The former India cricketer highlighted that RCB were in a spot of bother when they lost Glenn Maxwell's wicket. Chopra observed:

"Then Maxi (Maxwell) is there with Faf and you think Maxi will score runs. He hits a few boundaries and then he also gets out. Now what, how will you go ahead from here?"

RCB got off to a disastrous start as they lost Anuj Rawat and Virat Kohli's wickets in the very first over. Although Maxwell smoked 23 off just 11 balls, his dismissal reduced the Bangalore-based franchise to a score of 44/3 in the sixth over.

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"Unfortunate to miss out on his hundred" - Aakash Chopra on Faf du Plessis getting dismissed for 96

Faf du Plessis was dismissed off the penultimate ball of RCB's innings [P/C: iplt20.com]

While lauding Shahbaz Ahmed and Dinesh Karthik for playing the supporting act, Aakash Chopra was all praise for Du Plessis for almost carrying his bat through the RCB innings. He elaborated:

"Shahbaz and Dinesh Karthik come here but Faf stays there, right from the start to the finish, unfortunate to miss out on his hundred, 96 was absolutely stellar. He played an extremely beautiful knock."

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The reputed commentator concluded by pointing out that Du Plessis kept the biggest threats in the LSG bowling attack at bay. Chopra explained:

"Whoever were the main threats, you had a threat from Ravi Bishnoi, he (Faf) completely demolished him, he would probably not have conceded so many runs ever. He neutralized Dushmantha Chameera at the start and Avesh Khan later. Faf du Plessis played a captain's knock and took the team to a total which they defended, he captained very well also."

Ravi Bishnoi was taken for 47 runs in his four-over spell. Jason Holder and Dushmantha Chameera did pick up a couple of wickets, but the latter conceded 31 runs in the three overs he bowled.