Delhi crack under AB's whip

Bangalore's AB de Villiers during his 39-ball 90' on Saturday. Pic/AFP

Bangalore needed someone to provide that spark with the bat to make up for the continued profligacy of their bowlers. On Saturday, it was usual suspect AB de Villiers who came to the party with a match-winning 90 not out (39 balls), a knock that eclipsed a powerful 48-ball 85 from young Rishabh Pant earlier in the night as Bangalore beat Delhi by six wickets.

At 103-5 at the end of 15 overs, which in itself was a recovery after they were 28-2 when the six powerplay overs ended, Delhi seemed dead and buried. Wait said the Bangalore bowlers, we are the ones who roll over and play dead in the end overs. Why, thank you, said Pant. The visitors, who had been put into bat, thus ended with a more than healthy 174-5 in their 20 overs, a total which could well have proven to be beyond Bangalore 's reach had De Villiers not done what he did. He had lost his partner Virat Kohli after a 69-run stand for the third wicket, Trent Boult bringing off a blinder at long leg, but De Villiers was not giving up. Displaying an amazing range of strokes he brought the nearly packed stadium to life.

Earlier, turn was the key. Yuzvendra Chahal got prodigious turn off the Chinnaswamy Stadium surface and made life difficult for the batsmen. But Chahal's 2 for 8 in his first spell became 2 for 22 from three as Pant literally took off in the last five overs, hammering seven sixes in all along with six fours. Pant had raised 75 with Shreyas Iyer, who too impressed with a 31-ball 50 (4x4, 3x6) but now the left-hander was on his own. He scored as much as 49 runs from his final 18 deliveries as Delhi took charge. That is until ABD happened.

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