Faf du Plessis’ unbeaten 96 for the Chennai Super Kings against the Kolkata Knight Riders was the standout performance with the bat among the South African players in the IPL over the course of the recent four matches.

The experienced top-order batsman took advantage of the Powerplay phase to devastating effect with the young Indian opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, setting up a robust 115-run opening partnership. While he hasn’t opened for the Proteas in T20Is in recent times, he’s definitely pushing his case. Come the T20WC, it could be possible to open with either du Plessis or Bavuma, with the other coming in at first drop.

Another commendable performance came from the Proteas mainstay right-arm quick, Lungi Ngidi. It was his first game in this tournament, and provided excellent support for Deepak Chahar. Ngidi took the wicket of Rahul Tripathi but more importantly, the wicket of Dinesh Karthik, which broke the threatening stand that gave the Chennai Super Kings a scare.

The Delhi Capitals won against the Mumbai Indians, and South Africa’s pace ace, Kagiso Rabada, shook off the early jitters and took a respectable 1/25 in his 3 overs. Mumbai’s Quinton de Kock will be in search of the big score in the afternoon, against the Punjab Kings.

It’s an encouraging sign to see the Proteas stars shine in the IPL. While the recent T20I series against Pakistan may have appeared to be a red flag with regards to World Cup preparation, it’s fair to say that the IPL is a reliable metric when measuring a T20 player’s ability, whether he’s a batsman, bowler, or allrounder. With the quality of players, both Indian and international, it will be a stern test of consistency in the coming weeks.

Tune in for Round 3 of the Proteas watch after the next 4 games!

Photo by Rahul Gulati/ Sportzpics for IPL