Throwback to Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers' record-breaking 229-run partnership for RCB in IPL 2016

Today’s generation might not remember an Indian Premier League (IPL) team named Gujarat Lions, but every cricket follower knows the history and legacy of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the tournament.

When you say RCB, the top two names that come to your mind are Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Back in the day, they were two of the best batters in world cricket who together took the franchise to greater heights every time they stepped onto the field.

The duo share a great camaraderie and set a few IPL records together. On this day, May 14, in 2016, the two put up a record 229-run partnership against Gujarat Lions in the 44th match of the season, at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

After being put in to bat first, RCB faced an early setback as opening batter Chris Gayle was dismissed cheaply for a 13-ball six courtesy of a brilliant delivery by Dhawal Kulkarni. But what followed was absolute domination from Kohli and De Villiers.

Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers take charge against Gujarat Lions

The top-order batters took the opposition bowlers to the cleaners and went bonkers, hitting the ball all across the ground. While ABD was the first to notch up a century, off 43 deliveries, Kohli followed him and crossed the three-digit mark soon, getting his ton in 53 balls.

AB de Villiers was the wrecker-in-chief as he remained unbeaten at the end of the innings and finished with 129 runs to his name off just 52 deliveries. Kohli, on the other hand, was dismissed on the penultimate ball of the innings after scoring a 55-ball 109. The two supported each other brilliantly to add 229 runs off just 97 deliveries.

Gujarat Lions’ bowlers were left clueless and six of them finished with an economy rate over 10. Only Praveen Kumar (2) and Kulkarni (1) were among the wickets, as the Virat Kohli-led side scored 248 runs for the loss of just three wickets in 20 overs.

Chris Jordan and Yuzvendra Chahal stood out for RCB. While the former picked up four wickets in three overs, the latter finished with three in his four-over spell as RCB bundled out the Brendon McCullum-led side for 104 in 18.4 overs, thereby clinching a massive 144-run victory.