AB joins the party as RCB make it to IPL final

AB DE VILLIERS’ stunning salvo secured Royal Challengers Bangalore’s spot in the IPL final.

While Virat Kohli has re-written records in this year’s competition – De Villiers has flown somewhat under the radar by comparison.

That might be absurd to say considering the South African is third in the overall run charts with 682 at an average of 56.83.

But when Kohli and co failed in the first qualifying final against Gujarat Lions on a grippy pitch in Bangalore it was De Villiers who came to the rescue.

He smashed 79 from 47 balls batting with the tail as they chased down Gujarat’s 158 with four wickets and ten balls remaining.

RCB are therefore into Sunday’s final after a fantastic late run and there they will meet the winner of the Lions’ clash with Sunrisers Hyderabad later today.

The Sunrisers made the semifinal after beating Kolkata Knight Riders by 22 runs in the eliminator – thanks to Yuvraj Singh’s 44 and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 3-19.

Defeat for KKR was all the more disappointing because they had secured their spot in the eliminator by beating the same team three days earlier thanks to Sunil Narine’s 3-26 and Yusuf Pathan’s 52 in a 22-run win.

But the winner of the clash between Gujarat and Hyderabad will have their work cut out for them to beat a Bangalore side who finished the league format with a six-wicket win over Delhi.

In that game Kohli – who needs a score of 81 or more in the final to take his 2016 IPL total past the ridiculous 1,000-run barrier – scored 56 not out as they cruised.

Much has been written and said about the batting power of Kohli, De Villiers and Chris Gayle but the turnaround in form owes much to their improved bowling form with England’s Chris Jordan and Shane Watson coming to the fore.