AB delivers again
De Villiers fashions RCB’s seven-wicket win over RR
Dubai, Oct. 17: AB de Villiers’ swashbuckling 22ball 55 fashioned an incredible seven-wicket victory for Royal Challengers Bangalore over Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League match here on Saturday.
Chasing 178, De Villiers smashed six sixes to help RCB win the game after all seemed lost for them following the dismissal of Virat Kohli with the team struggling at 102 for three in the 14th over.
The seasoned South African launched into Jaydev Unadkat for three successive sixes in the 19th over to swing the match in his team’s favour. He finished the game in style, hitting Jofra Archer for a maximum with two balls still to go.
RCB lost Aaron Finch (14) after he had hit two sixes.
Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal stitched a 79-run partnership for the second wicket.
Kohli made 43 off 32 balls with the help of two sixes and a four.
The required run rate rose rapidly as RCB struggled to find the big overs, but de Villiers had other ideas.
Earlier, skipper Steve Smith’s counterattacking 36-ball 57 guided Rajasthan to 177 for six.
Smith struck six fours and one maximum before Chris Morris bowled a brilliant final over, conceding only four runs while taking two wickets to check RR
from going past 180.
Fast-medium bowler Morris finished with excellent figures of 4/26 in four overs. Batting first, RR were off to a brisk start as opener Robin Uthappa (41 off 22 ball) launched into the RCB attack with a flurry of fours and a six.
Morris gave RCB their first breakthrough when he had the subdued Stokes