AB de Villiers or ‘Superman
ABD,’ was the show-stopper in the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and
Rajasthan Royals. De Villiers’ 55-run knock off 22 balls with an astronomical
strike-rate of 250 propelled his team to victory. He was also adjudged man of the match for his stellar performance.

Following the victory, RCB
captain Virat Kohli called AB de Villiers the most impactful match-winner in
IPL. “In my eyes, he’s the most impactful match-winner in the
IPL. When he goes the opposition knows they’ve got a slim chance. Purely
because of the presence of that man in the middle the opposition feels we’re
not out of the game,” said Kohli in a post-match presentation.

Virat Kohli said he was “very
very happy” with the result, and added that de Villiers can be deadly with
the bat. Kohli stated, “Doesn’t matter who the bowler is; you can have the
best bowlers in the world in the opposition and he does what he does.”

Captain Kohli weighed in on ABD’s performance and stated, “But when he plays like that you want him
to face every ball, no offence. A good reason why. You saw what he can do in the
end.”

The former South African
captain came into bat with his team reeling at 102 for two in 13
overs. When the 36-year-old walked into the crease to bat, Bangalore needed 76
runs to win from 42 balls. Before ABD could take guard, Kartik Tyagi removed
Virat Kohli as Rahul Tewatia took a blinder at the boundary line.
RCB had a mountain to climb, needing 45 runs from the final three overs.

With all eyes on the former
Protea, the right-handed hard-hitter won RCB the match with 2 balls
to spare. De Villiers turned the match around on its heels by decimating the Rajasthan Royals bowling line-up. He smashed 6 sixes in his innings and hit a solitary boundary. Following his performance that won his side two
crucial points, De Villiers said that he, “Extremely happy. Lost for words.”

Being asked about his
batting the former South African cricketer said, “I’m proud of my
performances. Want to perform for my team. have an impact and that’s winning
games. Want to show owners I’m here for a good reason. Last game I didn’t play
well, didn’t perform my role as well as I should have. Happy to have done that
in this game.”

The 36-year-old added that
cricket was like a game of chess and stated that he always respected the
bowlers. He added, “A game of chess, whatever you want to call it. I
always respect the bowlers. If they bowl well to me, they’ll have the upper
hand. I’m going to do everything I can in my ability to turn the tide. And
luckily for me that worked today. Honestly I didn’t hit any one of them in the
middle, but close enough to the middle.”

Reflecting of the 25 runs
that was scored in the 19th over, De Villiers stated, “There was a very
big boundary to the leg-side when Unadkat was bowling. I was very worried
because I knew I had to hit them well. Luckily I did hit a couple well and got
him off his gameplan and made him nervous there at the end.”

Talking about his team’s
performance he called his side erratic and added, “We’re not on top of
the ladder, and there’s a reason for that. We’ve been a bit inconsistent. But
we’ve had six really good games in this tournament so far.”