IPL 2018: Twitter Goes Berserk As Faf du Plessis Powers Chennai Super Kings To Final

Faf du Plessis roared back to form, scoring a brilliant unbeaten fifty as Chennai Super Kings overcame a disastrous start to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 2 wickets in the first Qualifier.

With just 139 runs to defend, the Sunrisers needed a strong start with the ball. And their famed bowling lineup provided them with the best possible start. Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Shane Watson for a five-ball duck in the first over to set the tone.

Siddarth Kaul then took two in two to leave the Super Kings reeling at 24 for 3. He sent back Suresh Raina before accounting for the in-form Ambati Rayudu on the very next ball.  And even before the Super Kings could recover from these setbacks, they suffered perhaps the match-ending setback. Rashid Khan castled MS Dhoni for 9 to leave them reeling at 39 for 4.

The Super Kings soon found themselves 5 down for 57 Rashid struck again to remove Dwayne Bravo. Runs dried up and wickets kept on falling as Super Kings were 93 for 7 after 15 overs. Faf du Plessis, waging a lone battle, then hit Carlos Brathwaite for 3 fours and a six in the 18th over to revive the chase. The equation was finally down to 23 from the last two overs which later reduced to 6 from as many balls with 2 wickets in hand. Du Plessis then hit the first ball of the last over for a six to take his home in the final.

Earlier in the game, the Super Kings came up with a brilliant bowling effort to restrict Sunrisers to a modest 139 for 7 in the allotted 20 overs.

Deepak Chahar gave the Super Kings the best possible start by castling Shikhar Dhawan on the very first ball of the match. Shreevats Goswami and Kane Williamson managed to steady the ship. However, the duo could not last long and added only 34 runs. Lungi Ngidi broke the stand by sending back Goswami. 2 runs later, Shardul Thakur accounted for the in-form Kane Williamson to put the Super Kings on top.

Wickets continued to fall as Sunrisers found themselves reeling at 88 for 6 with all their main batsmen back in the hut. West Indies star Carlos Brathwaite then played an unbeaten knock of 43 to guide the Sunrisers to a respectable total. The knock came off 29 balls and was studded with one four and four sixes.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the match:

Faf Du Plessis:

41 Runs in first 35 balls
26 Runs in last 7 balls

What a innings!

— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) May 22, 2018

Faf Du Plessis or should the #CSK fans call him FAF YOU BEAUTY ! WOW! #CSK #SRH #IPL2018

— RK (@RK_sports) May 22, 2018

Faf du Plessis is Dhoni of the Day !#SRHvCSK

— Icecream Baba (@vichupedia) May 22, 2018

Wow Faf, what a knock. The innings prove that not all superheroes wear a cape. #IPL2018

— Shubh Aggarwal (@shubh_chintak) May 22, 2018

https://twitter.com/Fancricket12/status/998975331762487296

https://twitter.com/sagarcasm/status/998974173518094343

Faf did exactly what he needed to do in that over. With Brathwaite bowling, that was the only over to bring the required run rate down and he struck 20 in the over. #IPL2018

— Shubh Aggarwal (@shubh_chintak) May 22, 2018

CSK going to pieces…

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 22, 2018

Crazy match, expect anything, even a DD win.#SRHvCSK

— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) May 22, 2018

The last Afgahn to deceive Indians with such ease was Shakuni from the kingdom of Gandhara. #IPL

— cricBC (@cricBC) May 22, 2018

#SRHvCSK Kane Williamson to the other captains
Na Run Banaoonga
Na Banane Doonga
Defending just every total !

— GOPAL IYER (@BEALOTUS) May 22, 2018

Dhoni losing this match is a part of his charity program. But he is so great that he will never discuss it. Respect

— Ra_Bies 2.0 (@Ra_Bies) May 22, 2018

https://twitter.com/sagarcasm/status/998952953632485376

https://twitter.com/JewareMandar/status/998967192996622337

CSK are taking the game deep…. Deep into the hole they have dug for themselves. #IPL

— cricBC (@cricBC) May 22, 2018

Rashid Khan's googly gets Dhoni and this match has turned upside down!

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 22, 2018

SRH 139/7. More than what their bowlers are used to defending. Be licking their lips.#SRHvCSK

— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) May 22, 2018

https://twitter.com/Langer_Mayanti/status/998935617860861952

https://twitter.com/DanishSait/status/998933004893507586