Faf du Plessis continues spectacular form with the bat in this season's IPL

The former Proteas captain is also the first batter to go past the 400-run mark in this season's tournament with five fifties after just seven matches as his team beat Rajasthan Royals by seven runs.

Du Plessis struck 62 off off just 39 balls and shared in a stand of 127 with Australia international Glenn Maxwell (77 off 44 balls) as RCB reached a total of 189-9 in their allotted 20 overs.

The 38-year-old, who has been opening the batting with India's Virat Kohli, now has 405 runs in this year's campaign at a strike-rate of more than 165.

Du Plessis is on track to beat his best ever run-scoring season in the IPL when he struck 633 runs in 2021 for the Chennai Super Kings.

South Africa-born New Zealand batter Devon Conway, who plays for the Chennai Super Kings, sits in second place in the run-scoring charts for 2023 with 314 runs after seven matches.

Du Plessis will look to continue his rich vein of form with the bat when RCB host Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday.