In a Major League Cricket (MLC 2025) match today, the Faf du Plessis-led Texas Super Kings defeated the Sikandar Raza-captained Seattle Orcas by 51 runs.
Sports News: In a high-voltage match played on Friday in Major League Cricket 2025, Texas Super Kings strengthened their playoff hopes by defeating Seattle Orcas by 51 runs. However, the biggest and most surprising aspect of this match was that Texas Super Kings captain Faf du Plessis retired out while being very close to a century.
Faf played an explosive innings of 91 runs off 52 balls, which included 4 sixes and 6 fours. When he was on 91, the team had 6 balls remaining and the audience was waiting for his century, but he suddenly left the field and returned to the pavilion. His decision surprised everyone.
Why did Faf retire out?
Actually, 40-year-old Faf du Plessis was feeling tired during his innings and, considering the team's need, he thought that a batsman who could score runs quickly and hit big shots should come in the last over. Therefore, he gave Donovan Ferreira a chance so that the team's score could cross 190. However, Donovan was out for just 3 runs in 3 balls and Faf's sacrifice did not yield the expected result.
Faf's decision shows that he prioritizes the team's interest over individual achievements. If he had wanted to, he could have easily scored 9 runs in 6 balls and completed his century and could have also scored the fourth century in the tournament, but he removed himself with the aim of giving the team a big score.
The audience respected the decision
Although many fans seemed disappointed at Faf's failure to complete the century, most of the audience respected his decision. He is being highly praised on social media and people are saying, "This is the difference between a leader and just a batsman." Faf du Plessis has already scored 2 centuries in this tournament and he remains the player with the most centuries (3) in MLC 2025.
Seattle's innings remained lackluster
Seattle Orcas, chasing a target of 188 runs, remained under pressure throughout the match. Their batsmen could not stick around and wickets fell at regular intervals. The entire Seattle team was all out for 137 runs. Texas bowler Adam Milne performed brilliantly, taking 5 wickets and also winning the Man of the Match award.
With this victory, Texas Super Kings, having won 7 out of 10 matches, strengthened their position in the top-3 of the points table with 14 points. San Francisco Unicorns and Washington Freedom also have the same number of points, but Texas Super Kings are ahead of them due to a better net run rate.
