Derbyshire has signed South African batsman Leus du Plooy on a two-year deal, committing him to the club until the end of 2020.

A promising middle-order batsman, the 24-year-old joins Derbyshire on a Kolpak deal and will be available for all formats, subject to final approvals.

He has enjoyed recent success in South Africa, where he was the leading run-scorer in the CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge with 595 at an average of 74.12, including three centuries and two half-centuries.

Du Plooy’s career-best score in List A cricket came for Northerns in the competition’s semi-finals, as he hit 155 off 122 balls to carry his side to the final.

The left-hander went on to hit an unbeaten 85 in the final, whilst his slow left-arm bowling claimed six wickets throughout the tournament, with best figures of 3-19.

Overall, du Plooy has amassed over 2,500 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 46.50 and a top score of 181, whilst he averages 56.59 in 39 List A matches.

He is now set to join up with Dave Houghton and the rest of the Derbyshire squad as the team prepare to face Northamptonshire in the Royal London One-Day Cup opener on Friday 19 April.

Houghton said: “I’m delighted to have Leus here because we’ve been monitoring his progress for a while now and been very impressed with what we’ve seen.

“He will strengthen our depth alongside the talented home-grown middle-order that we already have and his recent form speaks for itself, so I’m looking forward to see what he can do for Derbyshire.”

Du Plooy added: “I’m looking forward to getting started with Derbyshire. I’ve wanted to play in England for a while so I’m delighted to finally be here and get straight into the season.

“The squad have made a good start to the summer and I want to score runs and do well for the team, so hopefully we can get more wins for Derbyshire.”

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