Ageing may slow down many athletes, but Faf du Plessis continues to defy time with ever-brightening performances. Just weeks away from his 41st birthday, the South African veteran proved he’s far from finished, smashing an unbeaten century that saw him rewrite the T20 record books.
Leading the Texas Super Kings in the United States’ Major League Cricket (MLC), du Plessis scored a blistering 103* off just 53 balls against MI New York at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas. His innings, laced with five fours and nine sixes, not only secured a 39-run victory for Texas and a place in the playoffs — it also delivered three new records, two of them world firsts.
With this ton, du Plessis became the first player in T20 history to score multiple centuries after the age of 40. Now 40 years and 352 days old, he overtook a group of seasoned names who’ve each managed just one century in their post-40 careers, including Paul Collingwood, Graeme Hick, Imran Janat, and Zubair Ahmed.Du Plessis’s previous century came just ten days ago at the same venue against the San Francisco Unicorns, when he was 40 years and 343 days old. His first MLC hundred, however, came last year on 8 July against Washington Freedom, just four days before his 40th birthday — meaning he narrowly missed out on a unique treble of post-40 tons.
The South African also broke the world record for the most T20 centuries as a captain, notching up his eighth century in his 200th innings while leading a side. He surpassed Australia’s Michael Klinger and Pakistan’s Babar Azam, who have seven T20 centuries apiece as captains. Remarkably, all eight of du Plessis’s T20 centuries have come while captaining his team, including one in the 2022 Bangladesh Premier League for Comilla Victorians. On that occasion, he was a stand-in skipper for Imrul Kayes, who was rested after the team secured an early playoff spot.
In MLC history, du Plessis now stands alone as the leading century-maker, with three to his name, ahead of Nicholas Pooran and Finn Allen, who have two each . What’s clear is that du Plessis — a former South Africa captain who retired from international cricket in 2021 — is playing some of the most fluent and impactful T20 cricket of his career. With the playoffs looming and form on his side, age seems to be just a number for the evergreen batter.
And as the candles on his birthday cake increase, so too, it seems, does his legacy.