When Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)’s A.B. de Villiers walked to the crease at 29 for two, Delhi Daredevils (DD) sensed an opening.
Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem employed two slips in the hope of taking the prize scalp early.
de Villiers, however, was not having it. In just his second ball, the South African connected with the sweetest of sweeps to send the ball flying to the square-leg fence. de Villiers threw down the gauntlet, and soon raced to an unbeaten, match-winning 39-ball 90.
“I wanted to put pressure on the spinner (Nadeem), because there was some turn with the new ball. I didn’t want him to settle in with the slips. As for that first sweep, I didn’t go down as low as I wanted to. He nearly got me, but my hands were quick enough to go through with the shot. From there, I just kept going. I felt good, and I was hitting well,” de Villiers told the IPL website.
The 34-year-old, a crowd favourite in these parts, added: “The Chinnaswamy Stadium is one of the best in the world. The fans are special, and hopefully we can do them proud in the matches to come.”
Mandeep Singh, who made an undefeated 17 in the company of de Villiers, said, “I didn’t want to try some stupid shot and get out. AB and I needed to build a partnership and win the game.”
Mandeep had high praise for Delhi Daredevils wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who made an attacking 85.
“Rishabh is a good friend. When we were younger, we used to talk about Yuvraj Singh, and how he used to hit the most sixes. In our generation, Rishabh Pant is the guy who can hit sixes any time,” Mandeep said.
