Faf du Plessis’s aggressive approach helped CSK recover from a possible collapse

Oct 3, 2014

Faf Du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo put up a 65-run partnership which allowed Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to beat Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the second semi-final of the Champions League T20 (CLT20) played at Rajiv Gandhi Internatinal Stadium, Hyderabad on Friday.

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“We wanted to get a partnership and it was important to knock the ball around for two or three overs. We had to make sure we gave ourselves an opportunity to get that partnership going. I thought we did really well to hit the gaps in the field, not necessarily taking the guys in the fence on. It was about taking calculated risks. That is something which lacked in the Kings XI Punjab innings. They kept trying to hit boundaries. With the wicket being a little two paced, you needed a little more batsmanship than power.” said Faf du Plessis to clt20.com.

“We played a really good game of cricket tonight. There were two occasions where we were under pressure tonight with the bat. We were 41 for 3 and then 141 for 6, that too in a big game, that can always swing either way. We handled the pressure really well with the partnership between me and Dwayne Bravo; and in the end Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) got us to a very good score. It is always nice to bat first and put a lot of runs. Then when you get a couple of quick wickets early on you do feel the pressure batting second.” he added.

On being asked that if batting with multiple-partners helped him in modifying his game, he quoted, “Not really. I think all of our batsmen from batting positions 5, 6 & 7 play a similar role where they all come in and look to be aggressive. With Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum and Suresh Raina at the top it is all power and all guns blazing. It was important for someone to strike a balance between all that firepower. I am used to opening the batting in T20 cricket and tonight I got an opportunity to go in the fifth over and counter-attack and play a bit aggressively. When the field went back, I saw myself looking into my role back at number four. It was then about hitting the spaces and running well between the wickets.”

“When I bat in the first six overs, generally my game plan is to be a bit aggressive like the other guys. If I had walked out to bat in the seventh over I would have probably taken my time a little more. I saw an opportunity to counter-attack and tried to be aggressive in the initial part of my innings.” he added.

Although he has played just two games and missed the rest due to injury, he believes he is in good form since he is hitting the ball well. Faf has been sensational in the last two months after coming from a good series in Zimbabwe.

Speaking about his gleaming fielding performance, he said, “We are very driven to win this tournament. Chennai Super Kings have always been consistent but we want to win trophies. It really means a lot for us and we especially want to win this one because it’s been quite some time since we last won a trophy. We are done with one step but we have another big game coming up against KKR who are a very good team. We are very pumped up. We don’t want to get to another final and lose. We want to get the silverware.”

Complete coverage of Champions League T20 (CLT20) 2014