Even as a Capitals fan, I have to admit that the Wanderers had the best atmosphere I experienced in a long time, as I witnessed a masterclass from Faf du Plessis in a thunderous Bullring atmosphere.

Walking down Corlette Drive (past the Discovery soccer park), I honestly felt relieved to be hearing cricket fans excited when talking about the stars that they wanted to see such as Kyle Mayers, Sibenelo Makhanya, Donovan Ferreira, Alzarri Joseph and Wiaan Mulder.

As you can imagine, the majority expected Quinton de Kock to destroy the Super Kings’ bowling lineup, however, this was unfortunately not the case.

Walking through the gates to enter the stadium, I saw a sea of yellow and at one stage I felt like Grue from the movie, “The Minions” because it was so vast. In terms of our seats, I joked with my friend that we had the posh seats because we had to take an elevator up to the top of the stands.

I made friends with an elderly gentleman, and he and I reminisced about the Proteas teams from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s. It was also refreshing to see many families come and support the Super Kings.

Seeing so many different people on the dance cam dancing to songs such as, “A Sky Full of Stars”, “Nkalakatha” and “Happy”, was enlightening.

My over-arching memory of this entire match is sitting in the Memorial Stand at the Wanderers and hearing the crowd chant, “Du Plessis…. Du Plessis…. Du Plessis”. The way he played his brother-in-law Hardus Viljoen by taking him on and Keshav Maharaj was truly breathtaking.

One fan who I met with tonight was so disheartened by the fact that selectors never recalled Faf to the white-ball squads in particular.

Aside from his excellent stroke play, I noticed that there were two other key factors to the success of Du Plessis’ knock. The first is that he rotated the strike really well (especially with Reeza Hendricks at the other end) and the second is that he placed the majority of his shots to perfection, which enabled him to casually jog the singles and occasionally sprint for twos. Every shot he played was met with a roar that echoed through the Bullring.

Even though members of the audience may think I am an ageist, I can honestly say that after today’s knock, Faf should definitely be re-admitted to our white-ball squads as he would not only add invaluable experience but also consistent match-winning performances.

“It’s important for me to convert those scores. In all the leagues I play I try to get hundreds,” said Du Plessis after the game. “It was a nice wicket, a bit sticky, then a typical Wanderers, once you get in…

“Topley bowled well, Maharaj got the ball to stick, I felt we were behind the rate, then got the momentum back.

“To Reeza, I was saying get me on strike, batting is about the partnership, we knew the back end would be easier. I was encouraging him to hit the ball as late as possible.

“This tournament is unbelievable, so great to play in front of full crowds. The Bullring is on fire!”

Other notable contributions from the Super Kings included Reeza Hendricks 45 off 46 balls. Although some cynics may argue that he should strike the ball at a higher rate, I felt he managed his innings very well and I thought he played Keshav Maharaj exceptionally well. I also thought the Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana bowled was impressive for his 3 wickets for 30 runs where he picked up the crucial wickets of Klaasen and Mayers during this spell.

As an aspiring writer, it is honestly easier to write reviews with the benefit of hindsight. My honest assessment of the Durban Super Giants was Heinrich Klaasen’s 65* off 48 balls and the combination of Kyle Mayers’ 28 off 15 and Jason Holder’s 28 off 12 balls, which were outstanding contributions with the bat.

Aside from Reece Topley, I thought the bowlers bowled too short (specifically to Faf du Plessis) and as a result, he was able to get the ball past Quinton de Kock for four a couple of times. Some errors in the field (such as the outfielder slipping and the dropped catch) also made it extremely difficult to maintain consistent pressure on restricting the chasing side.

This was honestly one of the best games of cricket that I have watched in a long time.