8 greatest IPL innings ever played

7. AB De Villiers, 47 (RCB vs DC, 2012)

An inning of 47 runs doesn’t generally make it to the list of the greatest innings ever, but this case is different. Who can forget the way AB De Villiers thrashed one of the best bowlers in the world, Dale Steyn, out of the park?

Royal Challengers Bangalore needed 38 runs from 18 balls. This might seem to be a pretty achievable target, but the problem was that out of these three overs, two of them were to be bowled by Dale Steyn. At this moment, he had figures of 2-1-7-1. In a T20 match, figures like these are priceless and any bowler would be proud of them, but Dale Steyn didn’t know what he was in for that day.

Of the 38 runs that the team needed, 23 of them were scored in the 18th over itself, courtesy of De Villiers. He smashed the great bowler out of the park and played some shots that are still fresh in the minds of the spectators. After all, it is not every day that you see a bowler like Dale Steyn being hit for 23 runs in an over. Because of this over, RCB didn’t need to face the 20th over. They won the game in the 19th over itself.

The pressure under which he played this innings of 47, the kind of bowling attack that he played this innings against and the way he thrashed the bowlers apart combined together warrants the place of this innings in this list.