Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) Director of Cricket, Mike Hesson, labelled AB de Villiers' unbeaten knock this Monday (October 12) in the victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as another "masterclass" on batsmanship from the great South African.
On a Sharjah pitch slowing down with each over, De Villiers looked the most comfortable timing the cricket ball. He made 73 of the highest quality of runs in just 33 deliveries to take RCB to a huge total of 194/2, which they later defended by a huge margin of 82 runs.
The middle-order giant was later awarded the 'Player of the Match' for helping his team to their fifth victory of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 in seven outings.
"Once again, we saw another masterclass from AB de Villiers. He came out and timed it from ball number one. We are getting better and as a side, this is exactly what we are after. Everyone talks about Sharjah being a 220 wicket, but it was never a 220 wicket," Hesson said in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of RCB.
While De Villiers played the stand-out knock, openers Aaron Finch (47), Devdutt Padikkal (32) and skipper Virat Kohli (33*) also contributed nicely for RCB.
In the second half, their spinners were especially commendable with their work through the middle-overs. Off-spinner Washington Sundar (2/20) and experienced leggie Yuzvendra Chahal (1/12) bowled terrific spells. They, along with the team's quicks, the likes of Chris Morris (2/17) and Navdeep Saini (1/17), restricted KKR's much-vaunted batting line-up to just 112/9.
Chahal lauded his young spin partner for continuing the excellent form he has shown in the tournament.
"Sundar bowled well again, he is doing so well for the side. When we come into bowl after the powerplay, there is lesser pressure on us because Sundar has been bowling so well in the first six overs," said Chahal in the video.
RCB, now third in the points table, next face Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on Thursday (October 15).
(Inputs from ANI)
