Captain Virat Kohli on Monday praised AB de Villiers’ “super-human” effort on a sluggish pitch after the South African cricketer hit a match-winning 73 for Royal Challengers Bangalore in an Indian Premier League. Bangalore defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 82 runs in Sharjah as De Villiers stood tall with his 33-ball blitz and an unbeaten century stand with Kohli, who made 33.

“Barring one super-human, everyone struggled on that pitch,” Kohli said of his star player who hit his third half-century of the season on a slow Sharjah pitch.

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“It was unbelievable. I thought I had a few balls under my belt, and I might start striking. He just came in and struck the third ball, and said he felt good. I said you might see a lot of people do what is done in other games, but only AB can did what he did. It was a fabulous knock,” Kohli added.

De Villiers, adjudged man of the match, said, “I am very happy with my performance. That’s all I can say,” De Villiers said after being named of the match.

“I got a duck last game, that is a terrible feeling. I am very happy that I contributed. I surprised myself today, to be honest.”

Opener Aaron Finch, who made 47, and Devdutt Padikkal, who hit 32, set the platform for Bangalore’s total with a 67-run stand. Kolkata’s bowling looked dismal in the absence of spinner Sunil Narine who was dropped from the XI after being under warning for a suspect bowling action.

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Kolkata skipper Dinesh Karthik said it was just “hard to stop” a “world-class player” like AB.

“He was the difference between the two teams. We tried everything. The only ball was the perfect inswinging yorker. Anything else was going,” said Karthik.