Desert Storm

AB hits the fastest fifty of IPL 5 as RCB thrash hosts Rajasthan by 46 runs in Jaipur

In T20 cricket,the emphasis for the team batting first is on making the maximum use of the initial six over set the batting powerplay. With the field in,the runs are easy to get and even mishits find the boundary ropes. On Monday,with Chris Gayle too sick to open the innings,the Royal Challengers Bangalore were 37/1 after six run-rate 6.17 and 62/2 at the half-way stage 6.20.

So what does a team do in a situation where the innings is unravelling due to steady wicketfall and the scoring rate is on a constant plummet? RCB8217;s answer,something that most captains apart from Daniel Vettori aren8217;t blessed with,was a man who has quickly made finishing an art in this format AB de Villiers. A sickly Gayle walked in in the 10th over and missed out,de Villiers entered the field in the 12th and responded with the fastest fifty of this IPL.

Thanks to a truly stunning innings an unbeaten 23-ball 59 Bangalore ended with 189 122 of the runs coming in the last 8.2 overs. An innings of similar ferocity was required by the hosts to stay in the contest,but on a day when Rahul Dravid was their fastest scoring batsmen at a strike rate of 138 for his 58,it came as no surprise that the Royals finished second on the day.

Another KP dazzles

With RCB left-arm spinner KP Appanna proving to be near unreadable during his haul of 4/19,a fact that a stumped Owais Shah would second,the Royals lost the game by a gigantic margin of 46 runs. While this KP also rose to the occasion,he too would know that the turning point of the match belonged to just one man and his late order surge de Villiers.

When de Villiers joined Tillakaratne Dilshan in the 12th over,Gayle had just been dismissed for four,and the run rate was a touch less than six. Until the start of 13th over,Royals newcomer Ajit Chandila8217;s figures resembled that of a seasoned campaigner. AB,however,would soon take care of that. Chandila bowled the fourth ball short,which de Villiers easily dispatched into the mid-wicket stands. And before Chandila knew what hit him,the South African marched down the turf and planted the next in the same spot.

Over the years,de Villiers has developed a wide array of shots that have helped him emerge out of situations like the one at Jaipur on Monday. His measured approach against spinners when he doesn8217;t step out or play his favoured but rash slog-sweep,that is has seen him become a match winner.

There is more to the man than often meets the eye sixes 5 and fours 3. The way he has adapted to Indian wickets has been commendable. As the wicket assisted turn and odd bounce,especially from the three-quarters spot,de Villiers moved aside inches to milk good deliveries for maximum runs. When Kevon Cooper was brought back,de Villiers immediately clobbered him for a six with a straight bat his way of instilling fear in the bowler8217;s mind.

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At the other end,Dilshan8217;s job was an easy one,that of finding the odd boundary and returning the strike back to his partner. Dilshan remained unbeaten after 20 overs,with a 58-ball 76 as his reward. But to put things into perspective,de Villiers batted an hour less than Dilshan8217;s 90 minutes,and finished with just 17 runs less in well below half the deliveries.