IPL 8: AB de Villiers' 47-Ball Hundred Buries Hapless Mumbai Indians
AB de Villiers smashed his second hundred as Royal Challengers Bangalore decimated Mumbai Indians' bowling attack at the Wankhede Stadium.
AB de Villiers rediscovered the form that has seen him terrorize bowlers the world over, with a blazing hundred against Mumbai Indians. Thanks to the South African ODI captain's second IPL hundred, Royal Challengers Bangalore muscled their way to 235/1 on Sunday. De Villiers got to his hundred off 47 balls, with a six off Jasprit Bumrah. (Blog: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians)
De Villiers shared a staggering 215-run stand with Virat Kohli, who remained unbeaten on 82 off 50 balls. By the end of the innings, de Villiers had plundered 133 off 59 balls at a strike rate of 225.42. His knock was studded with 19 fours and four sixes. (Scorecard)
De Villiers had announced his arrival in the Indian Premier League in 2010 with a sensational hundred for the Delhi Daredevils against Chennai Super Kings. He then moved over to RCB and held his own despite the presence of several other batting superstars in the team. West Indies' Chris Gayle clearly was the record-breaker, India's Virat Kohli the young leader and Sri Lanka's Tillerkatane Dilshan the pacemaker (in his few years with the team).
After several blistering half-centuries and some gems, including a brutal assault on Dale Steyn, de Villiers finally got the chance to take IPL by storm again, dominating a strong Mumbai Indians attack, led by Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga. De Villiers shared an epic stand with Kohli but such was the Proteas' domination that he ended up scoring 104 of the 157 they had added till the 17th over.
This has been a remarkable comeback for the Royal Challengers. They had been on a losing spree before the team picked itself up admirably. If it was Chris Gayle's mindnumbing aggression in the last game against Kings XI Punjab, it was de Villiers' flair, coupled with Kohli's grace that pushed Mumbai Indians on the backfoot on Sunday.
De Villiers holds the record for the fastest fifty, hundred and 150 in one-day internationals and is regarded as one of the best limited overs batsmen in the world today. He also has 14 half-centuries in the IPL.