Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman AB de Villiers slammed a half-century against Delhi Capitals in their IPL 2021 encounter at Ahmedabad on Tuesday (April 27).
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Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman AB de Villiers slammed a half-century against Delhi Capitals in their IPL 2021 encounter at Ahmedabad on Tuesday (April 27). De Villiers’ blitzkreig 75* powered RCB to a respectable 171-5 in the first innings after they were put in to bat first.
However, the half-century was notable for two major reasons. This was De Villiers’ 40th half-century in IPL history, making him only the fifth batsman to score 40 or more IPL fifties.
Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner currently leads the way with 49 half-centuries. He is followed by DC’s Shikhar Dhawan, who has scored 43 fifties.
RCB skipper Virat Kohli and Mumbai Indians captain Virat Kohli (40 each) are third and fourth. And now it is De Villiers who is rounding off the list.
De Villiers also became the sixth batsman to score 5000 runs in IPL history. Only Kohli, Dhawan, Raina, Rohit and Warner have done this before him.
5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣+ reasons why we love AB! ❤️#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2021 #DCvRCB #DareToDream pic.twitter.com/c44MTruS8A
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) April 27, 2021
De Villiers may be 37 but he bats with the abandon of a man half his age. It helps that he remains as fit as ever and that his cricketing instincts are still sharp.
He was required to pull RCB out of a sticky situation yet again, however. RCB started well but lost both openers Virat Kohli (12) and Devdutt Padikkal (17) in successive balls.
The double loss instantly slowed their momentum and RCB ended the powerplay at 36-2, hardly an ideal score at the time.
Glenn Maxwell (25) and Rajat Patidar (31) did well to steady the ship but were on slightly shaky ground at 139-5 in 18 overs.
Maxwell looked likely to score big again but fell trying to smash Amit Mishra down the ground. He couldn’t generate the required power on the shot and picked out Steve Smith at long-on.
Patidar smacked two sixes during his time at the crease but holed out to Smith off Axar Patel.
De Villiers targetted Marcus Stoinus, who surprisingly was called on only in the final over of the innings. If it was a strategic move to save the all-rounder for then, it backfired spectacularly.
ABD took 23 runs off him, smacking him for 3 sixes to ensure RCB finished strong.
