Faf du Plessis’s maiden international T20 hundred was overshadowed by the Ticketpro Proteas four-wicket loss to the West Indies in the second KFC T20 International at Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on Sunday. Du Plessis became only the second South African after Richard Levi to achieve the milestone, and called it a bittersweet occasion after the disappointing loss.
“I was joking earlier that its heartbreaking when you score your first T20 hundred and you don’t even get a crack at man of the match,” he quipped. “It generally goes to the opposition, the guys that win the match so I understand that. It would have been so much sweeter if we had won the game. Although I’m proud of my efforts today, losing the game doesn’t make it special, it’s bittersweet.”
The captain says he expected the West Indies to come out firing in pursuit of the record-chase, but was disappointed with the execution from his bowlers, who battled to stick to their game plans.
“I was pretty disappointed that we didn’t pull that one through,” Du Plessis said. “I thought there were a couple of areas in the game where we could have been better, in the field and with the ball with regards to our plans and containing them. It’s hard to contain Chris Gayle when he is playing like that. He puts a lot of pressure on the bowlers and you almost have no answers, he is a cut above the rest.”
The near sellout Bidvest Wanderers crowd was treated to a fantastic game of cricket, with a total of 68 boundaries hitting the stands.
“If there is a good wicket the ball just flies a little bit,” he explained. “We saw the sixes today, they were huge, David Miller hit a few into the green. The sixes are always bigger than at any other ground here, because the ball travels further through the air.
“I love games like this,” he added. “T20 cricket should be like this, it should be a run-fest where the bowler is under pressure, because in Test cricket the bowlers are on top and it’s a test for the batsmen. It’s great to be a part of a match like this, great for the public; they come to see fours and sixes. It was a great game of cricket.”
The teams travel to Durban on Monday ahead of the third and final match of the series on Wednesday.
