“One of the great mysteries”: Faf du Plessis drops blunt verdict on DC’s failed IPL 2025 campaign

Faf du Plessis-led Delhi Capitals (DC) locked horns with the Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 66th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

Delhi Capitals (DC) won the IPL 2025 game against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 6 wickets at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Friday, May 23.

Also Read: Shreyas Iyer openly blames PBKS bowlers for loss to DC, drops finger injury update

SHORTS

View More

Your daily dose of cricket!

Loading...

We wanted to finish top four - Faf du Plessis

Opting to bowl first, DC allowed PBKS to post a huge score of 206/8 on the board with Mustafizur Rahman (3/33), Vipraj Nigam (2/38), Kuldeep Yadav (2/39), and Mukesh Kumar (1/49) picking up the wickets.

Chasing the target, Faf du Plessis (23), KL Rahul (35), Karun Nair (44), and Sediqullah Atal (22) played brilliant innings to keep their side in the hunt before Sameer Rizvi slammed an unbeaten 58 runs to steer DC to win with three balls to spare.

During the post-match presentation, Faf du Plessis said that they were aiming for a top-four finish in IPL 2025, but the fifth-place finish reflects how their campaign went. He said:

"It is really important. We wanted to finish top four, but finishing in top five was a fair reflection on us."

IPL is all about young boys and domestic players - Faf du Plessis

While talking about where the campaign went wrong for them, Faf du Plessis said that it is 'one of the great mysteries'. He explained:

"It's one of the great mysteries, we tried to answer that question a few times in the dressing room. Confidence, lack of runs, when you are playing well, you get to win the small margins. Every game that small window of 5-6 overs in batting and bowling and in a big tournament like that it cost us.

In the end, Faf du Plessis highlighted the importance of the domestic players' performance in the Indian Premier League and showered rich praise on Vipraj Nigam. Faf du Plessis stated:

"IPL is all about young boys and domestic players, Vippy was amazing for us, not only with ball but bat as well, it's rare for a legspinner to be an allrounder. Two or three batters in that lineup, if they keep learning and improving, they can go a long way."

How did DC perform in the previous completed IPL match against PBKS?

Delhi Capitals suffered a four-wicket defeat against Punjab Kings in their previous Indian Premier League (IPL) clash in Mullanpur on March 23, 2024.

Being invited to bat first, DC got a good start with David Warner (29 off 21) and Mitchell Marsh (20 off 12) providing early momentum. Shai Hope carried it forward with a 25-ball 33 while Rishabh Pant chipped in with 18 runs.

However, a middle-order collapse saw them slump to 138/7 by the 18th over, before Abishek Porel slammed 32* off just 10 balls to take DC to 174/9.

Defending the score, Kuldeep Yadav delivered a brilliant spell of 2/20, removing Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma to keep his team in the game. Khaleel Ahmed also bagged two wickets for 43 runs while Ishant Sharma got one wicket. However, Sam Curran (63 off 47) and Liam Livingstone (38* off 21) helped PBKS complete the run-chase in 19.2 overs.