Story of the IPL so far: Fantastic Faf and 'Lord Rinku'

The Indian Premier League has reached its midway stage with Faf du Plessis firing on all cylinders, Rinku Singh achieving a miracle and MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings top of the table.

Faf thwacks it

Six-machine Faf du Plessis has lit up the competition for Royal Challengers Bangalore with a barrage of boundaries including one 115-metre (380-foot) missile into the stands.

The South African veteran tops the batting chart with 405 runs in seven matches, including five half-centuries, and has gelled with fellow opener Virat Kohli with two century stands.

Australia's Glenn Maxwell, also at Bangalore, has similarly been no slouch in the powerhitting stakes with 23 sixes behind Du Plessis' 25 — the only two to go above 20.

For Chennai, India's normally more sedate Ajinkya Rahane has been a revelation with a strike rate of over 199 in five matches, including an atomic 71 not out off just 29 balls.

The top-order batsman has earned a recall to India's Test squad.

Rinku phenomenon

Batsman Rinku Singh became an overnight sensation with an incredible five sixes in the last five balls of Kolkata Knight Riders' against-the-odds chase against a stunned Gujarat Titans.

The never-seen-before blitz, which conjured memories of the four sixes by West Indies batsman Carlos Brathwaite in the 2016 T20 World Cup final off Ben Stokes, is the highlight of this IPL.

A son of a hawker, left-hander Rinku has risen from humble beginnings to IPL fame after being picked by two-time champions Kolkata for $97,000 in the 2018 auction.

Teammate Venkatesh Iyer called him "Lord Rinku" after the match-winning unbeaten 21-ball 48 and the 25-year-old followed up his performance with two half-centuries in the next four matches.

Big buys sizzle

Punjab made history by picking Sam Curran as the most expensive IPL player for $2.23 million and the all-rounder has more than delivered with some stellar performances including a match-winning 55 on Saturday.

England's white-ball wizard has also led Punjab in three matches — two wins and a loss — in the absence of injured skipper Shikhar Dhawan.

Australia's Cameron Green overcame some ordinary scores to hit 64 off 40 balls and took a wicket with his pace bowling for Mumbai Indians last week to live up to his $2.11 million price tag.

Exciting England batsman Harry Brook lit up the IPL with the first century of the season to set up a big win for Hyderabad, who bought the gifted 24-year-old for $1.6 million.

Warner's Delhi flop

Delhi Capitals have now registered two successive victories but after five losses Ricky Ponting's men remain bottom of the 10-team pile without injured talisman Rishabh Pant.

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