After what Rinku Singh did the other day, no score is safe in IPL. And there is drama. Like this, on Monday night, the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants spread great excitement. On this day in Bengaluru, RCB batted first and collected 212 runs for 2 wickets. Virat Kohli’s 61 with 4 fours and 4 sixes, Faf du Plessis’ unbeaten 79 with 5 fours and 5 sixes, and Glenn Maxwell’s 59 runs with 3 fours and 6 sixes from 29 balls crossed the team’s total of 200. Kohli assumed that they would win easily. Lucknow’s start was indicative of that. They lost 3 wickets in 6 overs of power play and scored only 37 runs after playing with a target of 213 runs! They needed 176 runs to win in 14 overs. Which is almost impossible. But from there the scenario changed with the batting rampage of Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran.

Stoinis was dismissed for 65 off just 40 balls with 6 fours and 5 sixes. And Puran picked up the fastest fifty in this year’s IPL in the 17th over and scored 62 runs in just 19 balls with 4 fours and 7 sixes. Lucknow came within reach of victory in his batting frenzy. They needed 22 runs off the last 18 balls to win. 5 runs were required in the last over. There is also drama. In the end, Lucknow got a thrilling victory with 1 run in the last ball after losing 9 wickets. Kohli’s heroic batting was dimmed by Nicholas Pooran’s fastest fifty. With this victory, Lucknow Super Giants have won 3 out of 4 matches and are at the top of the points table. Bengaluru, who has won one of 3 matches, has dropped to seventh place.

He announced his retirement from Tests two years ago. Although he did not retire from the remaining two editions, he did not get a call to South Africa’s ODI or T20 teams for a long time. Faf du Plessis, who has passed at the age of 38, can make a dramatic comeback this time. He could get a call to South Africa’s West Indies series T-20 team!

South African local media Rapo reported that Du Plessis has spoken to coach Rob Walter about returning to international cricket. The batsman last played 50 T20 matches for South Africa in December 2020. After that, two T20 World Cups were held in 2021 and 2022, but the selectors of Cricket South Africa (CSA) ignored him. Despite not getting a chance in the national team, du Plessis has regularly played franchise T20s around the world. In the meantime, the leadership of the IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is also on his shoulders.

Talks of du Plessis’ return to the national team have been fueled by his recent batting form. The right-handed batsman had the second-highest run-scorer of the tournament in the SA-T20 in South Africa that ended last month. Joburg scored 369 runs for the Super Kings at an average of 41 and a strike rate of 147.60. Among these, there were two innings of 113* and 92 runs.

After that, two T20 World Cups were held in 2021 and 2022, but the selectors of Cricket South Africa (CSA) ignored him. Despite not getting a chance in the national team, du Plessis has regularly played franchise T20s around the world. In the meantime, the leadership of the IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is also on his shoulders.

South Africa now has two coaches. Rob Walter in ODIs and T20s and Shukri Conrad in Tests. According to Rapo, Du Plessis has met with Walter to discuss his return to international cricket. But what was said could not be confirmed. Walter will announce the team for ODI and T20 series against West Indies today. Whether du Plessis is returning or not will be clear then. The new Proteas coach will also announce the new captain for this edition as Temba Bavuma quit the T20 captaincy last month.

The South Africa-West Indies three-match T20 series will begin on March 25. Before that, the three-match ODI series will begin on March 16.

He bettered the mark set by opener du Plessis (68 off 33) earlier in the innings, with the pair helping the Scorchers reach 229 for 7.
It was the third-highest score in competition history – setting a new franchise record in the process – and the first total of 200-plus by any team this season. Du Plessis’ dazzling innings included six fours and five sixes before he was eventually out caught off Luke Wood, who claimed career-best figures of 5 for 50 amid the carnage.

Inglis picked up where the former South Africa skipper left off, smashing five fours and six sixes, while Nick Hobson (46 off 26) also made a strong contribution. He and Aaron Hardie (30 off 17) hit three sixes apiece. Scorchers’ batters combined to send 17 deliveries clear over the short Junction Oval boundaries, a tournament record. It left Stars needing to pull off the highest-ever BBL run chase, but they only managed 168 for 8.

Stars started positively, skipping to 32 for 0 from three overs before Scorchers quick Jason Behrendorff removed openers Joe Clarke and Tom Rogers in the fourth. Powerful allrounder Marcus Stoinis’ struggles continued as he managed just 4 from seven balls, following consecutive ducks in the opening two games.

Beau Webster and Nick Larkin tried to lift the Stars but the damage had already been done.