Leus du Plooy says his century at Lord’s in the final match of the season will be one he looks back on fondly.
The Derbyshire batsman scored 100 not out against Middlesex as Derbyshire ended their 2019 campaign with a draw, after a rain-affected four days.
Du Plooy first visited Lord’s when he was 13-years-old to watch England face South Africa, and he says that his own century there will hold a special place in his memories.
“It’s surreal. Coming here as a spectator 11 years ago, I would never have imagined I’d play at Lord’s. It’s a special place, it’s got a presence and to score runs here for my team, with everybody clapping, was an amazing feeling,” du Plooy said
“I was over here with school as a 13-year-old, watching England against South Africa. Funnily enough there were four South Africans on the honours board who made runs in that game, so I was sort of trying to follow their example.
“At tea we saw some very dangerous clouds on the horizon. Luckily the umpires got us out again and I could complete the three figures.
“Harvey (Hosein) played exceptionally well – he was a bit unlucky to nick off there. I thought he was going to score three figures because he was going beautifully.”
Having joined the club at the start of the season, du Plooy excelled in the white-ball formats, where he has become a key cog in Derbyshire’s top order.
The batsman also scored 554 runs in the Specsavers County Championship at an average of 39.57, including two centuries, both against Middlesex, and two half-centuries.
After spending the summer adapting to the conditions during his first season in English cricket, du Plooy believes that he has learnt at lot that will benefit him throughout his Derbyshire career.
“I’ve had to learn a lot in red-ball cricket and it’s been a real struggle for me throughout the season because of the conditions and the ball being so different.”
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