Royal Challengers Bangalore bigwig AB de Villiers recalled a 'gamble' that paid off during the match against the Gujarat Lions during the first Qualifier of the ongoing season of the IPL. RCB stormed into the finals after winning the match by four wickets, and will be facing the winner of today's Sunrisers Hyderabad vs GL match.
Calling the match a 'nightmare turned into a dream', the South African batsman said that he had received a message from Virat Kohli, where the captain had asked him to go after GL's all-rounder Dwayne Smith - which was the gamble that paid off.
"At some stage, we needed to take risks and have one big over and, with the threat of rain, Virat Kohli made a great call when he sent a message, saying we should go after the 15th over bowled by Dwayne Smith. The gamble came off and the 14 runs in that over swung the game in our favour," de Villiers wrote in his column for Hindustan Times.
He added that despite a surprising top-order batting collapse, he was confident about turning the game as he was able to strike well.
"Even amid the top-order collapse, I felt we could turn the game around. Anything is possible in T20 cricket and I tried to focus on ‘seeing the ball’ well, and, from my first delivery, I felt as though I was seeing the ball pretty well. That’s always a good sign."
RCB were given a target of 158 to chase, but had crumbled under Dhawal Kulkarni's inspiring spell and were languishing at 68/6, with Kohli, Chris Gayle, Watson and KL Rahul having been dismissed. It was de Villiers who stayed at the crease and posted a 91-run stand with Iqbal Abdulla (33 off 25) and took his side to the final.
De Villiers called Abdulla his 'perfect partner', adding that the 26-year-old had sensibly rotated the strike and had eased the pressure off him.
"He (Abdulla) was calm when he came to the creased, and gave me confidence, letting me have the strike when necessary and relieving the pressure by hitting boundaries at exactly the right moments," he said.
The Proteas star earlier went on a rampage against GL in one of the group stage matches, where he smashed a ton in just 43 balls and made a 229-run second-wicket partnership with Kohli.
He also thanked the crowd at the stadium, adding that they were the noisiest he has ever heard.
The final is scheduled to be played at the M. Chinnaswamy in Bangalore on May 29.
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