De Villiers' demolition job sinks Sunrisers

Cricket365
May 5, 2014

South African signing AB de Villiers' quickfire cameo of magnificent proportions, laden with several sixes, powered the Royal Challengers Bangalore to a tight four-wicket victory over the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Chasing a testing target after Austrailan recruit David Warner's standalone half-century had pushed the Sunrisers to a solid 155 for six, Bangalore were hampered by the early departures of opener Parthiv Patel and captain Virat Kohli for three and a duck respectively.

While West Indian recruit Chris Gayle and South African debutant Rilee Rossouw corrected the pursuit, de Villiers was soon at hand to complete the job in entertaining fashion.

The hard-hitting right-hander was characteristically belligerent, walloping half a dozen fours and as many as eight handsome sixes en route to a historic 89 not out from a mere 41 deliveries.

He was particularly aggressive through fellow South African Dale Steyn's final over, striking a trio of sixes and a solitary boundary to all but seal the result, which eventually arrived off the penultimate delivery of the second 20 overs.

The 30-year-old's destruction weighed in as the seven edition of this lucrative Twenty20 tournament's third highest score, failing to surpass the twin 95s amassed by Kings XI Punjab's Glenn Maxwell last month.

The outcome propelled the Royal Challengers to fourth position in the eight-team standings, while the Hyderabad franchise were left to languish in sixth spot.

Monday's matches will see the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders clash at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, followed by the Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings' meeting at the Feroz Shah Kotla.