Calcutta/Mumbai: Powered by a swashbuckling unbeaten 133 off just 59 balls by AB de Villiers and a classy 82 not out from captain Virat Kohli, the Royal Challengers Bangalore trounced Mumbai Indians by 39 runs at the Wankhede on Sunday.
De Villiers and Kohli were all over the MI attack during their all-time IPL record partnership of 215 off 102 balls, which bettered the previous best of 206 between Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh for Kings XI Punjab, against RCB, back in 2011 at Dharamsala.
Chasing the huge score, MI made a brave effort before finally ending up with 196 for seven. Opener Lendl Simmons made an unconquered 68. The victory pushed RCB up to No.4 in the standings with 13 points.
“I told AB that I will take this partnership to the grave. It was a memorable day for me watching AB bat from the other end,” Kohli said.
Excerpts
Virat Kohli: I didn’t expect 235 to be honest, I thought 175 or so was reachable after our first six overs. I was proved wrong by AB. I told him that I will take this partnership to the grave. He’s the best at present. It’s almost impossible to stop him when he goes on like that. We had a 200-run partnership, which is rare in T20 cricket.
It was certainly a memorable day for me watching him bat from the other end… We couldn’t have asked for anything more from the team. Didn’t expect 235 to be honest...
I thought we will reach about 175 after the first six overs, but I was proved wrong. Beating MI in Mumbai is never easy because they too have a brilliant batting line-up with people like Rohit and Pollard in their ranks. We just want to carry on being consistent from here.
Rohit Sharma: It was some very good batting by AB de Villiers but as a bowling unit what we had wanted to do did not happen. We did not take wickets and the fielding did not help with the dropped catches. RCB depend on their top three batsmen. We dropped catches. It was not our day on the field though our fielding has been really good so far. We need to take catches, otherwise it will allow the opposition to get away. Till the end of the six-over PowerPlay, we had things under control but after that their bowlers could not take any wickets. It was important at that stage to take a wicket.
When it did not happen it was difficult to stop the runs against two set batsmen in the last five overs. But to their credit they batted well, especially De Villiers. We have to bounce back and win the remaining two matches against Kolkata Knight Riders on May 14 and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad on May 17. We have to decide what to do against the Knight Riders in our next match.
AB de Villiers (MoM): Things just went my way. I didn’t start well… Was struggling a bit, but Virat calmed me down. He makes things easier. I never decide on a specific game plan before I go in to bat. I try and read the game in the best possible way.
I always want to keep it simple. I want to wish all mothers a Happy Mother’s Day… Especially to my mom, my mother-in-Law and of course, my wife who’s a mom to be. It’s a gift for my mom.
Presence of Kohli at the other end helps you settle down. I always try to keep it simple and my advice to youngsters would be to watch the ball as closely as as possible, keep the head still and not move too much even though I do it quite often.
