Fantastic Faf lights up India as IPL hits midway mark

AFP Sport pinpoints five highlights so far of the current edition of the lucrative Twenty20 tournament, which reaches its climax on 28 May.

Faf thwacks it

Six-machine Faf du Plessis has lit up the competition for Royal Challengers Bangalore with a barrage of boundaries including one 115-metre missile into the stands.

The South African veteran tops the batting chart with 405 runs in seven matches, including five half-centuries, and has gelled with fellow opener Virat Kohli with two century stands.

Australia's Glenn Maxwell, also at Bangalore, has similarly been no slouch in the powerhitting stakes with 23 sixes behind Du Plessis' 25 - the only two to go above 20.

For Chennai, India's normally more sedate Ajinkya Rahane has been a revelation with a strike rate of over 199 in five matches, including an atomic 71 not out off just 29 balls.

The top-order batsman has earned a recall to India's Test squad.

Rinku phenomenon

Batsman Rinku Singh became an overnight sensation with an incredible five sixes in the last five balls of Kolkata Knight Riders' against-the-odds chase against a stunned Gujarat Titans.

The never-seen-before blitz, which conjured memories of the four sixes by West Indies batsman Carlos Brathwaite in the 2016 T20 World Cup final off Ben Stokes, is the highlight of this IPL.

A son of a hawker, left-hander Rinku has risen from humble beginnings to IPL fame after being picked by two-time champions Kolkata for $97,000 in the 2018 auction.

Teammate Venkatesh Iyer called him "Lord Rinku" after the match-winning unbeaten 21-ball 48 and the 25-year-old followed up his performance with two half-centuries in the next four matches.

Big buys sizzle 

Punjab made history by picking Sam Curran as the most expensive IPL player for