5 top non-century IPL knocks in a losing cause

#3 AB De Villiers’ 89 off 46 for Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab

AB De Villiers was back in the RCB playing XI after a back injury had ruled the South African out for his team’s initial two games. With Virat Kohli out injured, De Villiers knew that the burden would be on him to score the runs for his team. The RCB fans were delighted to see their star player back and hoped for some fireworks and as usual, he didn’t disappoint.

Stand-in skipper, Shane Watson was dismissed in the very first over itself and in walked De Villiers at number 3. He began very cautiously but when the team slipped to 22-3 and with not much batting to come, he decided to change gears.

Out came the crisp cover drives, the glorious De Villiers scoops and the mighty heave over cow corner. These extraordinary strokes delighted the Indore crowd. It seemed as if De Villiers was batting on a completely different wicket.

While the rest of the RCB batsmen managed a collective score of 59 runs in 74 balls, De Villiers himself stroked an impressive 89 off 46 balls which was studded with three boundaries and nine massive sixes! RCB ended up on a decent 148-4 which proved to be too little as the KXIP batters chased down the target without any hiccups.

RCB fans were gutted that their team lost but De Villiers’ return to the side was a pleasing sight and they hoped he could continue this form for the team.