During the ongoing 27th match of IPL 2023 in Mohali, Faf du Plessis, the star South African opener for Royal Challengers Bangalore, narrowly avoided a head-high no-ball from Punjab Kings’ Sam Curran. The ball came dangerously close to hitting du Plessis’ helmet, but he managed to avoid injury.
The incident occurred in the 16th over of the match, when Curran ran in to bowl the first delivery. After the near miss, Curran quickly apologized and exchanged a few words with du Plessis.
Despite Faf’s inability to take advantage of the free-hit, Sam Curran had an opportunity to get him out a few deliveries later. However, wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma misjudged a skier, causing Curran to miss the chance.
Nevertheless, the home team was able to end the crucial partnership in the following over after Harpreet Brar dismissed RCB’s stand-in skipper Virat Kohli. This ended the fifth-highest opening stand for the Bangalore-based franchise in IPL.
Nathan Ellis was able to dismiss Virat’s opening partner, who was playing well on a slow pitch. Faf du Plessis attempted to increase the run rate but fell victim to Ellis’ well-concealed slower ball. RCB’s regular skipper is currently out with a rib injury and will not be leading the team against Punjab Kings or participating in the bowling innings. Instead, Vijaykumar Vyshak will come in as an Impact Player to replace the injured South African in the second innings.