The cricket lovers were in for a treat on Sunday thanks to two magical knocks from Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers. The duo took RCB out of danger to a commanding position to set up a very challenging target of 205 runs on a sluggish Chennai pitch for the Kolkata Knight Riders. After having won the toss, RCB skipper Virat Kohli opted to bat first to make the best use of the surface. However, they were rocked back by two blows in the second over of their innings as both Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar departed courtesy the mystery spin of Varun Chakravarthy.
However, the game changed from that over onwards as first Glenn Maxwell and later on AB de Villers hammered the KKR attack to all parts of the ground. Maxwell set up the game wonderfully for RCB with a very impressive knock of 78 runs before being dismissed by Pat Cummins. But the misery was not over for Kolkata’s bowlers as ABD applied the finishing touches and made RCB the firm favourites in the match as they scored 109 runs of the final nine overs.
Ab de Villiers got going with back-to-back boundaries of the bowling of Varun Chakravarthy in the 15th over. He then hammered Prasidh Krishna for consecutive boundaries in the very next over. His hitting range was on full display as he smashed Kolkata’s bowlers to all parts of the ground. Some of his shots even left Virat Kohli awestruck. He had a special liking for Andre Russell whom he smashed for 36 runs from his two overs at the death. AB scored 76 runs off just 34 balls to help RCB cross the 200 run mark. His innings included 9 fours and 3 massive sixes.
Twitteratti had a field day as they were dazzled by ABD’s strokeplay. Here are some of the reactions:
A B de Villiers really is incomparably amazing with his strokeplay????.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) April 18, 2021
When AB De Villiers gets going, he makes Chennai pitch look like Bengaluru pitch.
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) April 18, 2021
Virat Kohli’s reaction to AB de Villiers half century. Could he BE any more starstruck? ?? pic.twitter.com/xinVRekSMg
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) April 18, 2021
Ab de Villiers Unbelievable Shot. pic.twitter.com/DomjqPq87K
— CricketMAN2 (@man4_cricket) April 18, 2021
AliAlien De Villiers is Back??#rcbvskkr#IPL2021 #ABdeVilliers pic.twitter.com/IsdBzm8kRa
— Đeva Rasan (@iamdevarasan) April 18, 2021
