IPL 2022: Faf Du Plessis singles out this PBKS player with praise after RCB's loss

Faf du Plessis heaped singled out Odean Smith after he led Punjab Kings (PBKS) to an excellent five-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Sunday.

Du Plessis moved from Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to RCB ahead of IPL 2022 and the Bangalore franchise appointed him as their skipper after Virat Kohli stepped down from the role.

On Sunday, du Plessis led from the front as he boosted RCB's first innings with an excellent half-century. The Proteas batsman struck seven sixes and three fours in his knock of 88. He put up 118 runs with Kohli for the second wicket and that helped RCB post 205 runs on the board in 20 overs.

In reply, PBKS chased it down with an over and five wickets to spare.

"I think the batting was really good; the catches towards the end. Odean Smith 25 off 8 balls.. I think we probably dropped him on 10. After that, we are looking at some tailenders coming in. The cliche of catches win watches. There was a bit of dew out there, tough night for the bowlers, but I thought they were pretty decent with the wet ball. Small margins, but they chased it down really well. They had a really good powerplay," said du Plessis after the game at DY Patil Stadium.

Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan gave PBKS a flying start as they shared a solid 71-run opening stand. Even one-down batsman Bhanuka Rajapaksa made significant contributions. The Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman hammered four sixes and two fours in his cameo of 43 off 22. In the end, it was the duo of Smith and Shahrukh Khan who took away the game from RCB.

Mohammed Siraj made two back to back dismissals in the 14th over before PBKS lost another wicket in a span of a few deliveries. However, West Indies' Smith held his nerves and attacked the RCB bowlers. He hit three sixes and a four in his eight-ball 25, while Shahrukh scored a 20-ball 24 to help PBKS successfully cross the line.

"The ball skidded on a bit more in the second innings and then we pulled it back beautifully. We did a lot of good things in the middle. But you know what Odean Smith can do to you. So you got to hold on to those chances. Even the other guy, Shahrukh Khan, didn't really nail it tonight until the last couple of balls. So completely different game if you hold on to those chances," added du Plessis.

Mayank Agarwal: We trust our skills

Meanwhile, PBKS captain Mayank hailed his batsmen for the successful chase, epecially after du Plessis and Kohli "took the game away" from them with their partnership.

"Two points for us is very important. Good wicket. Very good wicket as both sides scored 200 plus. One or two balls held up but nothing apart from that. Credit to the way we finished. We took the right chances and I am glad it came off. I think we gave them 15-20 more.

Virat and Faf took the game away from us but credit to our batters to chase this down. We trust our skills. It doesn't come off, it doesn't come off but we are not going to panic and make a scene out of it," added Mayank, who is leading the IPL for the first time.

RCB have a two-day break before they take on rivals Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Wednesday (March 30). PBKS' next game is also against KKR, scheduled to take place on Friday (April 1).