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When Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers beat together at the IPL, most of the time they are followed by fireworks. The duo over the years have played some memorable innings for the Royal Challengers Bangalore and most of it came when they were fighting together. But none is more special than the partnership Kohli and de Villiers formed against Gujarat Lions at IPL 2016 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
In that game, both Kohli and De Villiers scored centuries on a track that was not the usual hitting tape. It was slow, the spinners had some help, but both de Villiers and Kohli organized a master class.
Kohli and de Villiers played some stunning shots that day to leave the Gujarat Lions’ attack disoriented, but there was a particular shot by De Villiers that Kohli rated as the highest.
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“I’ve never seen anything like that on the cricket ground and my reaction was like what’s going on. I’ve never seen a full low pitch off of the stadium over 45, not exactly slim leg, but that angle is just impossible to create. I don’t know how you made it happen. It was like wow, I hadn’t seen anything like that on the cricket ground, “Kohli said, recalling that photo in a live Instagram session with De Villiers.
In the first installment on the 16th, de Villiers crawled slightly and swept a total low shot from Praveen Kumar for a six that landed outside the stadium.
De Villiers and Kohli formed a second-place partnership of 229 races. De Villiers was undefeated on 129 of just 52 balls with 10 four and 12 six, while Kohli was out on the last lap after scoring 109 of 55 balls.
RCB managed to put 248 to 3, batting first and in response, the Gujarat Lions were eliminated by 104 when RCB won that game by 144 runs.
RCB reached the final of that season after an impressive run in the second half of the tournament, mainly due to Kohli and Villiers’ excellent form with the bat.
“I clearly remember that season, the guys who were involved, I’m sure they all do.” It was just camaraderie, friendship in the locker room, ”said Kohli.
RCB, however, were defeated in the final by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final.
“I honestly felt like we were destined to win that season, because of the way we won that semifinal, we were like 4 down for not many.” We are going to the final with so much confidence that nothing can stop us, but the sport is such that not always everything goes well, “said AB de Villiers.
