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AB de Villiers has said that during his partnership with Glenn Maxwell against KKR on Sunday, the 'tired' Australian got 'angry' when he was made to run a lot of twos and threes.
AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell were the architects of RCB’s 38-run win over KKR. While Glenn Maxwell consolidated the RCB innings after a poor start by scoring a well-made 78, AB de Villiers provided the final flourish with his explosive 34-ball 76*.
The South African spoke to Yuzvendra Chahal after the game and said how a tired Glenn Maxwell wasn’t too impressed with AB de Villiers' exuberant running between the wickets on Sunday.
“So, when I came in, I realised Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) was very tired. He told me he doesn’t want to run very much. I started with two runs and three, so he was very angry with me,” revealed AB de Villiers.
AB de Villiers joined Glenn Maxwell in the 12th over, when RCB were 95/3. Glenn Maxwell, who was batting on 60* at the time, put together a 53-run partnership with De Villiers in no time.
Admitting that he enjoying playing alongside the Australian, AB de Villiers disclosed how the duo planned the middle-overs assault.
“To be honest, we just enjoyed playing with each other. We are similar players, with lots of energy. We love having an impact on the game for the team. When I came into bat, the talk was just to get a base together, get a partnership going. He told me the wicket was not as bad, maybe 20 up from the last few games. So, I knew if we got a partnership going somewhere, we would sense some weakness,” said AB de Villiers.
AB de Villiers dissects his death-overs blitzkrieg
AB de Villiers had time to get his eye in on Sunday. The 37-year-old settled down before launching an assault on the KKR bowlers.
He started his innings with some quick twos and threes to race to 12 off nine deliveries. But Mr. 360 soon took off soon from there, slamming the KKR bowlers to all parts of the ground.
Tasked with being RCB’s finisher this season, AB de Villiers credited his solid start for the death-overs masterclass he unleashed against KKR. He said in this regard:
“It depends on the situation. I laid a nice foundation. I had a very good start today with a lot of twos and a couple of threes. Then their leg-spinner (Varun Chakravarthy) came on, and I could sense he was bowling a bit defensive. That was the moment where I started showing intent and showing bowlers that I will start taking chances. Then I had a few opportunities towards the back end. I took a chance and sent a message to them that I was going to hit them off their lengths today".
All eyes were on the AB de Villiers-Andre Russell matchup before the game. The South African had never been dismissed by Russell before, striking at 221.74 against the West Indian.
It was more of the same on Sunday, with AB de Villiers carting away 38 runs off two overs against the KKR death bowler. AB de Villiers explained how his early intent put KKR on the back foot at the death.
“It forced them into bowling more death deliveries. Andre Russell came on, and he was very stuck with that wide delivery. It wasn’t easy to be ready, but I opened up using his pace through third man, which put him under a lot of pressure,” said AB de Villiers.
Awarded the Man of the Match for his blistering exploits, AB de Villiers expressed his satisfaction after helping RCB register their third win on the trot.
Despite not playing any cricket since IPL 2020, AB de Villiers has started IPL 2021 in great form. He also joked how Yuzvendra Chahal had a role to play in his impressive batting form as well.
"I worked really hard, and I have learnt from the best, watching you ( Yuzvendra Chahal) in the nets! I worked really hard in the last few months. I don’t expect to be playing really good cricket at the moment, but I am very happy. I always give my best shot when playing for RCB. It was a very hot day out here today, so I was quite worried about the conditions and us losing two wickets early. But I am very happy that we came through and played well," said de Villiers.
AB de Villiers has scored 125 runs in three games in IPL 2021, doing so at a strike rate of 189.39. He is performing the finisher’s role to aplomb and will look to contribute again when RCB take on RR on April 22.
Get the complete IPL schedule 2021 here.
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