AB de Villiers’s sixes were hitting the cars on the road adjoining the Sharjah Stadium as he drove home the point that when he is in top gear, even a Virat Kohli goes on mute.
De Villiers made all the difference in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 82-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday.
The former South Africa captain’s extraordinary knock (73 not out off 33 balls) was the reason why RCB put up 194/2 on board after electing to bat on a slow pitch. While De Villiers went hammer and tongs, RCB captain Kohli (33 off 28 balls) was happy to play the rotator of strike at the other end.
The Knights were never in the chase as the RCB spinners, Washington Sundar (2/20 off four overs) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/12 off four overs), choked the run flow.
When big hope Andre Russell perished in the 14th over, the game was as good as over for the Knights, who somehow limped to 112/9 in 20 overs.
RCB moved up to third in the standings with 10 points, while the Knights are fourth with eight points.
It was also a kind of reality check for Dinesh Karthik’s team, who had won their last couple of matches by slender margins.
Knights’ playing XI on Monday did not include Sunil Narine, who was reported for suspected illegal bowling action. But it was a strange decision since the spinner has not been barred from bowling.
Given the conditions, Narine perhaps could have helped his team stall De Villiers.
RCB scored as many as 83 off the last five overs of their innings, with 65 alone coming off De Villiers’s blade. He shared an unbeaten 100-run stand with Kohli.
The Knights tweaked their opening combination again, pushing Rahul Tripathi down the order and getting England youngster Tom Banton to open alongside Shubman Gill. It didn’t work.
The Knights also had the option of trying out Tripathi at No. 3 in place of the struggling Nitish Rana, but he was sent in at a time when the game was already beyond their reach.
Gill finished as the top scorer with 34. The rest of the Knights batsmen hardly played a knock worth mention.
