Leus du Plooy 'super stoked' to fill Faf du Plessis' shoes at Joburg Super Kings

When Joburg Super Kings captain Faf du Plessis was ruled out due to injury, they lost not only one of their premier run-scorers but also a wealth of experience.

This was particularly poignant due to JSK having a host of young and inexperienced batters in their line-up in Season 4.

There was therefore only one call they could possibly make to help fill the void. Some would suggest that he should have been there from the outset.

So, with Delhi Capitals eliminated from the ILT20 where he was active the last month, coach Stephen Fleming sent Leus du Plooy the SOS and in a moment the left-hander was back at the Wanderers. 

Du Plooy is, of course, no stranger to the Bullring, having spent the first three seasons with JSK and is also the Super Kings’ second-highest all-time Betway SA20 run-scorer behind Du Plessis. 

All this experience was needed at Boland Park on Monday evening where the Super Kings were in a straight shootout to qualify for the playoffs. Beat the Paarl Royals and they advance, lose and Durban’s Super Giants would qualify.

Du Plooy delivered in the clutch moment, striking an undefeated 54 from 27 balls (5x4, 3x6) to power JSK through to the Eliminator where they will face the Royals in a rematch at Centurion on Thursday.

“I think coming in as a replacement in any team is pretty tough and absolutely gutted for Faf. He's such a key figure in the Super Kings family, so I've obviously had massive shoes to fill there. But yeah, one thing that made it so easy is the fact that I've walked into a team that I've played before and it's such a great group to be a part of,” Du Plooy said.

“It's a consistent group from top to bottom. From management to the players, it's been pretty consistent over the years, and it's definitely helped me to settle in pretty quickly, probably compared to other replacements that I've done before. But yeah, I'm just super stoked to be playing in this competition for this team.” 

Du Plessis’ takedown of Royals wrist spinner Waqar Salamkheil in the penultimate over was particularly poignant with the left-hander smashing two sixes and boundary to switch the momentum of the contest. 

The 31-year-old claims he benefitted from having been in the same Dubai Capitals’ squad with the Afghan during the ILT20.

“I was lucky enough to face him for about a month,” Du Plooy said. “I didn't play much cricket in Dubai, so I faced him quite a bit in the nets.

“So, yeah the conditions were in my favour there from that side, so it was either him or me and luckily it came off.”

Du Plooy also credited coach Stephen Fleming for lifting the team’s spirits after the last home defeat where JSK had Pretoria Capitals on the ropes at 7/5 but still allowed the visitors to claw their way back into the contest and go on to win the game. 

“Yeah, it was tough. But Flem is exceptional in addressing those kinds of things without being massively harsh or anything like that,” he said.

“He's very experienced and has been coaching for a long while, but I think even he wouldn’t have  seen something similar like that in his career, probably not 7/5. 

“The first thing you have to do is accept it. He would have known exactly what mindset we needed to be for this game.”