Dale Steyn has taken to Twitter to sportingly acknowledge compatriot AB de Villiers’s blistering late assault on his bowling in an Indian Premier League thriller in Bangalore on Sunday.

De Villiers, combining crisp, orthodox stroke-play with some outrageous improvisation even against Steyn’s express pace for the Deccan Chargers, played a huge role in powering Royal Challengers Bangalore over the line at Chinnaswamy Stadium.

He took 23 runs off what turned out to be Proteas and former Titans team-mate Steyn’s third and last over, wrecking the latter’s hitherto commendable figures of 2-1-7-0 (including a maiden to Chris Gayle, of all people).

And as De Villiers finished on a whirlwind 47 not out off 17 balls in the five-wicket win, Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) tweeted: “Just wana congratulate @ABdeVilliers17 on that master battin display! I’d also like to say our friendship is nw hanging by a thread bud! Haha.”

Others in the Twitter world, who watched the amazing onslaught, joined in the praise.

“That has got to be some of the best I have seen from De Villiers – absolutely outstanding clean hitting, all around the park!” enthused former SA fast-medium bowler Steve Elworthy (@SteveElworthy).

Another Titans and Proteas stalwart active in the IPL, Albie Morkel (@AlbieMorkel), said simply: “Give that man a Bell’s! Take a bow @ABdeVilliers17.”

Former Proteas bowling coach Vincent Barnes (@VincentBarnes50) added: “@ABdeVilliers17 is the best batsman in the world at the moment.”

In a post-match press conference, De Villiers was quoted as saying: “Dale could have knocked me over with any of those balls, unfortunately for him I read it well, it was just my night.”

Source: Sport24 – May 7, 2012 / ROB HOUWING

Some may say he has been hot and cold this IPL season. Some might call him a touch inconsistent. Some will stop just short of saying he is the best finishers in the limited-overs game. But the truth of the matter is that on his day, Abraham Benjamin de Villiers can set a cricket field on fire like no one else. And those who need to record testimonies can ring up Dale Steyn.

On Sunday, Deccan Chargers’ skipper Kumar Sangakkara handed the ball to Steyn for the 18th over of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s chase with a smile. RCB needed 39 off 18, and with the kind of form Steyn had run in this season, his six balls could have sealed the third win for DC.

Steyn had fellow South African de Villiers on strike. But it wasn’t one of those challenge games they are used to in the nets. This was serious business. RCB wanted to resurrect their floundering campaign while Deccan had pride at stake.

Steyn’s attempt to surprise AB with a bouncer first ball ended in a six over deep mid-wicket and a cheeky try at a slower one met its fate past the ropes on the wide long-on boundary. “Enough’s enough,” Steyn must have said and steamed in with a yorker on mind. Instead, a full-length ball was served and de Villiers helped himself to a flat six over extra cover. And when all brains in the stands were firm that now Steyn will give it back to AB, the South African batsman took a leaf out of Tillakaratne Dilshan’s book and scooped it over short fine-leg. A couple in between and a single off the last ball made it 23 runs in the over. No prizes for guessing who had won that battle.

It was a big error to think that RCB will now take it easy. When AB is hot, he is very hot. Anand Rajan was the next in line to be punished. And it took de Villiers just three balls of the 19th over – 4, 4, 6 – to give partner Syed Mohammad the chance to finish it off with seven balls to spare.

While the entire Deccan squad – on ground and in the dug-out – stood stunned, de Villiers stood tall – with 47 not out off 17 balls, including five fours and three sixes – having helped RCB score 72 runs in 3.5 overs to win the game.

For those still in doubt, the stand-in RCB skipper Virat Kohli’s words after the match summed it up. “When you have AB, anything is possible.”

AB de Villiers in IPL 5 so far: 11 matches, 292 runs, 64 not out highest, Strike Rate 171.76, three 50s, 25 fours, 14 sixes

Source: CricketNext – May 7, 2012 / JASPREET SAHNI

His blistering 23-ball 59 formed the the cornerstone for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s easy win, but AB de Villiers, in a nice gesture, shared his Man-of-the-Match award with K P Appanna, who turned in an impressive performance with the ball.

Appanna picked up four wickets after de Villiers’ heroics as RCB defeated Rajasthan Royals by 46 runs in their Indian Premier League match.

“I had a good game, I enjoyed my batting. I’d like to hand over this award to the man who took four wickets, KP Appanna. I haven’t done this before. It’s a team game,” de Villiers said.

“He (Appanna) took four wickets and it doesn’t happen everytime… that should be the Man-of-the-Match award.”

Appanna thanked the batsmen for posting a solid total.

“On this track, getting to 190 was a great effort, and I got some turn from the track,” Appanna said.

RCB skipper Daniel Vettori was pleased with Appanna’s effort.

“He has come back after playing in one match and offers us a lot more options. Today he has showed what he is capable of,” Vettori said.

“The way Zak (Zaheer Khan), Vinay (Kumar) and Harshal Patel (bowled) was a confidence booster for the side.”

The Kiwi thought the tournament is wide open at this stage. “It’s an exciting tournament. Pretty much every team still has a chance, so we need to keep winning.”

Rajasthan captain Rahul Dravid said his side lost the match in the last five overs, during whcih they conceded over 80 runs. “The last five overs made the difference. Dilshan and AB played really well in that period,” Dravid said.

Dravid was worried about their performance at the death.

“The death bowling has been an area of concern. I am hitting some good shots but its important to get the right result as well. Appanna bowled well, he had the backing of a lot of runs behind him. He spun the ball, it’s good for his confidence.”

Source: Cricket Country – April 24, 2012

AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis have enjoyed a stupendous week in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with both men playing pivotal roles in their respective teams going on winning runs.

Du Plessis’ growing maturity on the international stage was evident as he struck two half-centuries for the Chennai Super Kings in consecutive matches as his team moved into fifth position, on eight points, tied with the log-leading Delhi Daredevils but behind on net run-rate.

The 27-year-old Du Plessis struck 58 off 48 balls as the defending champion Chennai beat Pune by 13 runs before he blasted his way to 73 off 53 deliveries in a man-of-the-match performance as the Super Kings beat the Rajasthan Royals by seven-wickets in a last-ball thriller.

What has made Du Plessis’ performances all the more remarkable is that he has been utilised as an opening batsman when South African fans are more used to seeing him bat in the middle-order.

Du Plessis’ move to the top of the order has seen him score 302 runs in seven matches at an average of 43.14.

His strike-rate is a healthy 138.53 and he is the second highest run-scorer in the tournament, an impressive achievement considering that it was felt that he was only playing until Australia’s Mike Hussey joined the team when he finished with his international commitments.

Du Plessis may still be forging his career on the international stage but De Villiers is busy establishing himself as the world’s best batsman. The outrageously talented 28-year-old played a stunning innings as the Royal Challengers Bangalore beat the Pune Warriors by four wickets in another last ball finish.

Bangalore were chasing 183 to win and Chris Gayle provided the platform with a superb 81 but De Villiers made sure that the Royal Challengers secured the win with an audacious 33 not out off just 14 balls.

His knock included two fours and three sixes and De Villiers has surely made the reverse slog-sweep shot his own. De Villiers followed up his knock against Pune with 52 off 39 balls as Bangalore beat Punjab by five wickets. Despite De Villiers’ heroics Bangalore are second from bottom on the log after three wins and three losses.

David Miller made his IPL debut for Punjab in the game against Bangalore but he had a match to forget as he scored just eight.

Du Plessis and De Villiers may have been setting the world alight with their batting but their Nashua Titans’ team-mate Morne Morkel has been dominating with the ball and his efforts have helped the Delhi Daredevils to the top of the table.

Morkel, with 29 matches of this season’s IPL having been played, is the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 15 at an average of 10.8 and, perhaps more importantly, has conceded just 7.04 runs to the over.

Paceman Morkel took 3-23 as Delhi beat Deccan by five wickets. Morkel then took 3-50 against the Pune Warriors but it was not enough to prevent Delhi slipping to a 20-run defeat.

JP Duminy is another South African who enjoyed a good week after he carved his way to 58 off just 26 balls as he made his first appearance of the season for the Deccan Chargers.

Unfortunately for Duminy his innings was not enough to prevent the under-performing Chargers slipping to a last-over defeat at the hands of the Rajasthan Royals.

Source: Sport24 – April 23, 2012