Watch: Faf du Plessis unveils new batting trick; fools bowler with his acting skills

Faf du Plessis played a unique scoop shot, wherein he fooled the bowler into mistaking he is about to walk away from the stroke before executing it to perfection in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2022. 

Playing for the St Lucia Kings, Du Plessis unveiled an interesting trick with the bat in hand while facing Guyana Amazon Warriors’ allrounder Romario Shepherd. 

As the pacer ran into bowl at him, the South African right-hander dropped his guard for a brief moment, leaving his upper hand off the shoulder of the bat while stepping sideways as if to suggest he will walk away. 

But Faf du Plessis eventually regained his normal position, moved across to the off-side and played a scoop shot that fetched him another maximum for the game and the tournament. 

Faf du Plessis’ unique trick 

The incident is from the start of the final powerplay over in Kings’ first-innings batting effort against the Warriors at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. 

Taking on Shepherd, Faf du Plessis initially gestured as if he is about to walk away from the delivery, dropping his upper hand off the bat handle and also stepping sideways in a relaxed position. 

But he quickly regathered his original stance, before moving across to the off-side and playing a perfect scoop shot off a short-pitched delivery from Shepherd for a six behind square on the on-side. 

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Notably, Shepherd made no last-minute adjustment to his line or length seeing Du Plessis do his trick, which was telling for how quickly the South African batting stalwart shuffled from his near-walkaway position to play the stroke he eventually did. 

Faf almost walked away and then casually scooped it for a Six 🔥😂 pic.twitter.com/OywBsFIYGV

— Robin (@robin_rounder) September 23, 2022

Leading the Kings from the front, Faf du Plessis went on to score a blistering hundred for the night, ending with 103 off 59 deliveries, including 10 fours and 6 sixes. He was in terrific form against the Warriors, helping Kings post a gigantic 194/5, which however wasn’t enough for his team to propel to a victory after a poor bowling effort in the second half.