Indian Premier League 2021
IPL 2021: DC vs RCB – AB De Villiers causes a literal storm with his bat
AB De Villiers’ sensational innings helped RCB defeat DC in a tightly-contested match
AB De Villiers was absolutely magnificent tonight [Credits: IPL]
Wow, everything that has to be said on AB De Villiers has already been said and yet, he continues to make us speechless this way, doesn't he?
A 37-year-old smashing boundaries and sixes on a track where most batsmen have struggled to hit top gear is great enough, a 37-year-old who does not play international cricket and lacks in rhythm before the start of the tournament doing something like this week in, week out almost seems scripted. And yet it isn't.
We saw De Villiers faltering in the previous game, exposing his human façade for a little while. But the extraterrestrial got back to his majestic best tonight. Such was his rich vein of form with the bat, that the maestro ended up causing a literal storm in Ahmedabad tonight. AB De Villierstorm, if you will.
When AB De Villiers entered the fray, RCB were on 62 for 3, and the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, and Glenn Maxwell had departed with more than 10 overs left in the match. Once again, it all came down to De Villiers' massive shoulders and he duly obliged.
The South African superstar took 10 deliveries to score his first boundary of the match, opting for caution, given RCB's critical situation of the match. He kept pacing his innings beautifully, going for the 1s and 2s and building a solid partnership with Rajat Patidar.
After Patidar got dismissed, De Villiers took greater responsibility of the scoring and tried to look for at least one boundary every over to keep the scoreboard ticking. The former Proteas captain pulled Avesh Khan's delivery between long-on and deep midwicket to get to his 40th IPL half-century!
By this time, he had faced almost 35 deliveries and like a ferocious lion stalking its prey, De Villiers decided to unleash on poor Marcus Stoinis bowling the final over.
AB De Villiers smashed 23 runs off that 20th over of the innings, which included three humongous sixes. The first one was drilled into the boundary padding, the second one whipped over short fine, and the third hammered over the covers!
This was De Villiers at his magnificent, majestic best and the city of Ahmedabad responded by sending a sandstorm in the wake of all the chaos the great man had just caused.
