Bengaluru: AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli jointly orchestrated a mayhem by scoring magnificent centuries against a hapless Gujarat Lions attack as Royal Challengers Bangalore plundered a massive 248 for three with records falling like ninepins at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
While this is the second highest team score in the history of IPL behind RCB’s 263 for five against Pune Warriors, the Kohli-De Villiers combine eclipsed its own partnership record by pummeling the Lions to add a staggering 229 runs in just 16 overs.
The previous best was 215 against Mumbai Indians during the last edition. In fact, Kohli also became the first player in the history of IPL to score two centuries against the same opponents in one edition of the league. De Villiers smashed a scintillating unbeaten 129 off 52 balls with 10 fours and 12 maximums while Kohli, en route his third hundred in a single edition of IPL, hit a brilliant 109 off 55 balls with the help of five fours and eight sixes. De Villiers, whose 43-ball century was the fifth fastest in IPL, teed off to get the maximum number of sixes in an innings by any individual batsman. In all, the duo hit an astounding 20 sixes compared to 15 boundaries as the square of the Chinnaswamy looked too small at times. The start was not that great for RCB, considering Chris Gayle (6, 13 balls) was completely out of touch before he played on a Dhawal Kulkarni delivery. The RCB captain was cautious to begin with but it was De Villiers who was first to get off the blocks with a flurry of sixes. The first was a cover driven six off Chinaman bowler Shivil Kaushik 90/50 in 3 overs), who imitates Paul Adams’ action. In the next over, he slogged Pravin Tambe behind square for another huge blow and RCB innings got the momentum. Dhawal Kulkarni’s friendly medium pace was imperiously pulled for a six. When de Villiers completed his hundred, Kohli was still in his 50s but he then increased the pace at the rear end of the innings. A flurry of sixes off Kaushil, Dwayne Bravo (0/46 in 3 overs) and Praveen Kumar (2/45 in 4 overs) saw Kohli reaching the coveted hat-trick of tons in the final over of the innings as the fate of the match looked all but sealed. — PTI
