Faf du Plessis matches remarkable MS Dhoni feat after South Africa's win over Sri Lanka

South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and 45 runs at Centurion Park to take a 1-0 lead in the ongoing two-match series. Faf du Plessis, who relieved himself of captaincy duties not long ago, was adjudged as Player of the Match for his heroic 199-run knock against the visitors. The innings also turned out to be his magnum opus Test performance even though he fell short of his maiden double ton by just one run.

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Prior to the opening day of the recently-concluded Test, Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss and opted to bat first. At stumps on Day 1, the touring party reached 340-6 on the back of solid half-centuries from Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva and Dasun Shanaka. Despite a compact foundation laid by the Sri Lankan batsmen on Day 1, they ended up losing the Test by an innings, thus marking only the second such occasion in Test history.

The only other instance of a team scoring more on an opening day and losing by an innings later occurred way back in 2009. Interestingly, the match in contention also involved Sri Lanka when they scored 366-8 on Day 1 against India at the Brabourne Stadium. In the match, the MS Dhoni-led Indian side defeated their continental neighbours by an innings and 24 runs.

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While Faf du Plessis scored 199 in South Africa’s recent series-leading win over Sri Lanka, former Indian cricketers Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni scored blazing tons in India’s innings win back in 2009. The aforementioned three batsmen are now lone members of an elite club to score centuries in their side’s innings win over their opponents after conceding 340 or more runs on the opening day of a Test.

Remarkably, two of the above three cricketers are long-time teammates in the Indian Premier League (IPL). MS Dhoni, who has been the captain of the Chennai franchise in India’s cash-rich T20 tournament, has been teammates with Faf du Plessis since the 2011 edition of the competition. Moreover, the two former captains of their respective national sides are all set to reprise their roles for the franchise in the upcoming IPL 2021 season.

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Faf du Plessis 199 vs Sri Lanka: Cricketer’s innings headlines South Africa’s win

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Image source: CSA and BCCI Twitter