• Which South Africans are still in the IPL?

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    The 2019 Indian Premier League round-robin fixtures have been completed. Four South Africans have left, and six remain for this week’s play-offs.

    Who’s gone?

    Batsman David Miller and fast bowler Hardus Viljoen exited the tournament with the Kings XI Punjab. Miller struck 213 runs in 10 innings, while Viljoen took seven wickets in six matches.

    Royal Challengers Bangalore recruits AB de Villiers and wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klassen have left, too. De Villiers averaged a resounding 44.20 on the back of 420 runs in 13 innings, while Klaasen only played three matches.

    Chennai’s kingpins

    • The Chennai Super Kings still have Proteas captain Faf du Plessis and leg-spinner Imran Tahir. Du Plessis remains key to a franchise navigating the poor form of Australian opener Shane Watson – and Tahir is second only to this IPL season’s leading wicket-taker Kagiso Rabada. Tahir has 21 wickets in 14 matches to Rabada’s 25 in 12, while Du Plessis’ fine form was magnified by a superb 96 against Punjab recently.

    Delhi’s duo

    • Delhi have lost Rabada to injury, but all-rounder Chris Morris and batsman Colin Ingram remain. Ingram hasn’t really been able to mirror success in Australia’s Big Bash League, the Pakistan Super League and Caribbean Premier League, while Morris is the franchise’s second-highest wicket-taker this IPL season.

    Mumbai’s manne

    • The Mumbai Indians drafted Proteas left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks as a late replacement for the injured Alzarri Joseph. Hendricks hasn’t played yet – and won’t likely break into a first-choice seam attack spearheaded by Indians Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, and Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga. Opener Quinton de Kock, though, is still vital to Mumbai’s batting – and has collected 492 runs in 14 innings; more than the combined total of all-rounders Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya.

    The rest

    No South Africans featured for the Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, who have been eliminated from this season’s competition, and Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are still in the running.

    Photo: SPORTZPICS for BCCI

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