South African cricketer AB de Villiers on Tuesday became the second overseas batsman to score 5,000 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) played against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Ahmedabad. De Villiers hit an unbeaten 42-ball 75 to power his side to 171.
De Villiers is the third fastest (161 innings) batsman to complete 5,000 runs in the IPL. David Warner (135 innings) is the fastest while Virat Kohli (157) the second fastest.
Warner is the only other overseas player in the elite 5000-run club that includes four Indian cricketers. Kohli tops the list of most runs in IPL with 6,041 runs. He is followed by Suresh Raina (5,472), Shikhar Dhawan (5,456), Rohit Sharma (5,431) and Warner (5,390). Chris Gayle is the next batsman in line to join the 5000-run club.
Barring De Villiers, all RCB batsmen were guilty of not capitalising on good starts.
Put in to bat, Devdutt Padikkal (17) and skipper Kohli (12) were off to a flying start, amassing 30 runs in 3.5 overs. The youngster opened his account with a boundary off Ishant in the first over. The duo hit five fours.
However, that changed as DC bowlers effected back-to-back blows. Pacer Avesh provided the Capitals with the first breakthrough, dismissing the RCB captain for 12 in the fourth over. In the very next ball, Ishant, playing his first match of the season, got rid of the dangerous Padikkal.
With two new batsmen in the middle, the seasoned speedster went on to bowl a wicket maiden to slow down the proceedings as RCB collected 36 runs for the loss of two wickets in the Powerplay. Maxwell played a short cameo, smashing two maximums and a boundary but was caught at long on by compatriot Steve Smith of leggie Mishra as RCB reached 68 for three at the hallway mark.
Patidar, who hit 31 off 22 deliveries, and de Villiers steadied the ship by stitching a 54-run stand but all-rounder Axar Patel, who accounted for the Indian in the 15th over.
