South Africa’s Du Plessis retires from tests to focus on T20 World Cups
CAPE TOWN, (Reuters) - Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has announced his retirement from tests to make Twenty20 International cricket his priority with successive World Cups in the next two years.
Middle-order batsman Du Plessis, 36, was the most senior member of the South Africa test squad that lost the recent series 2-0 in Pakistan, and finishes with an average a shade over 40 after 69 matches, with 10 centuries and 21 fifties.
“My heart is clear and the time is right to walk into a new chapter,” Du Plessis said in a statement on Wednesday. “It has been an honour to play for my country in all the formats of the game, but the time has come for me to retire from test cricket.
“The next two years are T20 World Cup years. Because of this, my focus is shifting to this format and I want to play as much of it as possible around the world so that I can be the best player I can possibly be.
“This does not mean that ODI (One-Day International) cricket is no longer in my plans. I am just making T20 cricket the priority in the short term.”
Du Plessis made his test debut against Australia in Adelaide in 2012, scoring 78 and a memorable 110 in the second innings, in which he faced 376 deliveries on a wearing wicket to help South Africa secure a draw in a series they won 1-0.
He captained the side in 36 tests but gave up the armband in February 2020 after a string of poor results.
BARCELONA, (Reuters) - Paris St Germain’s Kylian Mbappe scored a stunning hat-trick as his side overcame the absence of Neymar to thrash Barcelona 4-1 away in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Tuesday to move within full view of the quarter-finals.
Lionel Messi had blasted Barca ahead with a penalty in the first half but Mbappe pulled the French champions level with a classy piece of control and finishing to complete a flowing team move also involving Marco Verratti and Layvin Kurzawa.
Mbappe, who had not scored in the Champions League knockouts for two years before Tuesday, smashed PSG into the lead in the 65th minute while Moise Kean took advantage of some woeful Barca marking to head in a third goal for the visitors in the 70th.
The insatiable Mbappe looked hungry for more though and, after being denied his third goal by Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, he completed his treble in the 85th minute by curling the ball past the German into the top corner.
“We wanted to come here and win and we did that in style,” said the 22-year-old France striker. “Tonight was magnificent, but we haven’t won anything yet.”
Barca overcame a 4-0 defeat to PSG in a last-16 first leg in 2017 by winning the second leg at home 6-1 and the Catalans now face another daunting task in turning this tie around when they visit the Parc des Princes on March 10.
Barca coach Ronald Koeman had no complaints about the heavy defeat and was pessimistic about the prospects of another turnaround.
“The result reflect how superior PSG were, they were much more effective than us,” said the Dutchman.
“I could tell you lies but the fact is that at 4-1 down
from the home leg, there are very few chances of going through.”
BLOWN AWAY
Barca’s last Champions League knockout game was their humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in last year’s quarter-finals but they went into Tuesday’s game on the back of seven La Liga wins in a row and were boosted by the return of serial winner Gerard Pique in defence after nearly three months out.
Yet they were utterly blown away by Mauricio Pochettino’s side, who in addition to missing former Barca forward Neymar were also without influential winger Angel di Maria.
Mauro Icardi should have given last year’s runners-up the lead when he strolled through on goal but the Argentine scuffed his shot and Barca’s teenage midfielder Pedri recovered to clear.
The hosts then got a lucky break when Frenkie de Jong was accidentally tripped by Layvin Kurzawa and Messi smashed his penalty beyond former Real Madrid keeper Keylor Navas to score a fourth goal in this season’s competition, all from spot-kicks.
PSG responded emphatically with their classy team goal after 32 minutes and should have gone ahead before the break when Kurzawa was thwarted by a fingertip save from Ter Stegen and Icardi headed just wide from a corner.
Barca had their moments too, Antoine Griezmann showing exceptional pace to sprint towards goal from the halfway line but landing his shot just wide of the far post.
The second half belonged to PSG though, and no player symbolised their confidence better than the resplendent Mbappe, who became the first player to score a visiting hat-trick at the Camp Nou since Andriy Shevchenko in 1997.
“I’ve always wanted to give the best of myself with PSG, this shirt means a lot to me,” added the Frenchman.
“It’s a shirt that means a lot to me. I haven’t always succeeded and maybe I’ll have bad games, but I’ve never been someone to hide, even if I make mistakes.”