Bangalore: AB de Villiers produced one of the most devastating Twenty20 knocks when he smashed an unbeaten 89 from just 42 balls as Royal Challengers Bangalore pulled off a sensational four-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a dramatic IPL match here on Sunday night.
De Villiers butchered Hyderabad’s bowlers with six fours and eight sixes as he single-handedly took Bangalore to victory after the hosts suffered early jolts courtesy a fine bowling show by Karn Sharma (3-17) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-16).
Chasing the 155/6 made by Sunrisers, Bangalore seemingly lost the plot as they were reduced to 59 for four in the 11th over and then were down 95 for five when Yuvraj Singh (14) was out, needing 61 from 5.3 overs.
But de Villiers took over from there and played a memorable innings to take Bangalore to 158 for six with one ball to spare.
He stitched 57 runs for the sixth wicket with Mitchell Starc, who contributed just five.
In the process, de Villiers dented the reputation of his South African compatriot, fast bowler Dale Steyn, who bled 39 runs without a wicket in his four overs.
Bangalore needed 28 runs off the last two overs and de Villiers came into the act by hammering Steyn for 24 runs in the 19th over with three scintillating sixes and a four, which turned the tables against Hyderabad, leaving the home side just four runs to score in the last over bowled by Irfan Pathan.
Fittingly, de Villiers hit the winning runs, a four, to take Bangalore to their first victory at home in IPL 7 in front of a wildly cheering crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
This was RCB’s third victory this season and they are now in fourth place with six points from six matches, overtaking Kolkata Knight Riders.
Sunrisers stay in sixth position with four points from six outings.
The only blemish in de Villiers’ incredible innings was when Karn Sharma was offered a tough chance in the 14th over off the bowling of Pathan when the batsman was on 32. Luckily for Bangalore, the fielder put the chance down.
Earlier, David Warner’s fighting knock of 61 off 49 balls helped Hyderabad post a challenging 155 after being put in to bat.
Warner hit four fours and three sixes as he steadied Hyderabad’s innings along with captain Shikhar Dhawan (37 off 36 balls) with a 62-run partnership for the third wicket.
Put in to bat, Hyderabad lost their in-form opener Aaron Finch (13) and Lokesh Rahul (6) early as they were reduced to 29 for two in four overs.
Mitchell Starc and Ashoke Dinda (1-39) accounted for both batsmen.
Australian pacer Starc (2-21) had Finch caught behind by Parthiv Patel and Dinda then sent back local lad Rahul as he fished at an out-going bowl to Chris Gayle at first slip.
Warner, who survived a scare while on six when he played an uppish shot, and Dhawan provided stability for the visitors by adding 62 runs for third wicket in the next nine overs.
Naman Ojha looked in good nick and contributed 15 runs off 11 balls, which included a gentle guide into the Hyderabad dug-out for a four and a six, before he was caught by Starc at third-man off Varun Aaron. (PTI)
Brief scores:
Hyd: 155/6, 20 overs (D Warner 61, S Dhawan 37; M Starc 2-21, V Aaron 2-33)
RCB: 158/6, 19.5 overs (AB de Villiers 89*; K Sharma 3-17, B Kumar 2-16)
