IPL History: Top 3 knocks by AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers is one of the most successful batsmen in the history of the Indian Premier League. After playing for the Delhi Capitals for three seasons, he moved to the Royal Challengers Bangalore and has never looked back.

In 129 innings, he has scored a total of 3953 runs and is expected to enter the elite 4000-run club in the 2019 edition. In the past 11 seasons, he has made 28 half-centuries and 3 centuries. Having cleared the boundary ropes 186 times, he is also the joint second highest six-hitter in the tournament.

The South African has an insane strike rate in excess of 150 and over the years, he has played many crucial innings for his franchises.

In this article, we take look three of his innings in the past 11 seasons of IPL.

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#3 89*(41) against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014

de Villiers bailed his team out of trouble Enter caption

Chasing down a target of 156 set by the Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Royal Challengers from Bangalore received an early blow. Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed both Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli in the second over of the chase.

In the seventh over, RCB lost their second opener, Chris Gayle, and were in deep trouble as they lost three wickets for just 38 runs. At this moment of crisis, in walked AB de Villiers who was determined to take his side home.

Even as Bangalore lose Rilee Rossouw and Yuvraj Singh, the South African batsman did not lose heart. Due to regular fall of wickets, RCB managed to score only 97 in 15 overs and needed 59 runs off the last five overs.

With the surging scoreboard pressure, ABD took matters into his own hands. He hit a total of 4 fours and 5 sixes in the last five overs. He took a particular liking for his countrymate Dale Steyn and hit 24 runs in the penultimate over bowled by him. As a result of his 41-ball 89, RCB won the match by 4 wickets with one ball to spare.

#2 133 against Mumbai Indians in 2015

ABD recorded his highest IPL score against the Mumbai Indians

There's no team in the world that can stop AB de Villiers when he is in top gear. The champion team of 2015 season, Mumbai Indians, were at the receiving end of one such inning when the Royal Challengers Bangalore traveled to Mumbai.

ABD thrashed the Mumbai bowlers so much so that a 50-ball 82 from Virat Kohli seemed like nothing before the South African's batting. The Pretoria-born batsman scored a total of 133 runs during his stay lasting 59 balls. With the help of 4 sixes and 19 fours, Mr.360 managed to score runs at a strike rate of 225.42

This still remains the highest score by de Villiers in the Indian Premier League. As a result of his century, RCB managed to score a total of 235 in 20 overs and went onto beat the season champions by 39 runs at the Wankhede Stadium.

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#1 79 against Gujarat Lions in 2016 - Qualifier 1

ABD took his side to the finale by scoring a magnificent half-century

In the 2016 season, the Bangalore based franchise finished second on the points table and were pitted against the table-topping Gujarat Lions. During the first qualifier, Gujarat were just inches away from reaching the finals but AB de Villiers denied them the golden opportunity.

After posting a total of 158 in their quota of 20 overs, the Lions had a dream start to the second innings of the match. As a result of the brilliant performance by Dhawal Kulkarni, they reduced Bangalore to 29-5 within the first powerplay.

In spite of dismal performance from the rest of the batsmen, AB de Villiers kept RCB in the game. By stitching a 39-run partnership with Stuart Binny, the South African batsman steadied the innings but had a big task in front him.

Post Binny's dismissal, there was no other recognized batsman but that did not stop ABD from taking his side to victory. He built an outstanding unbeaten partnership of 91 runs with Iqbal Abdulla for the seventh wicket and ensured that RCB reached the finale without them battling it out in the next qualifier.