IPL 2020: Twitter erupts as AB de Villiers' sizzling fifty helps RCB stun RR at Dubai
The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR) faced off in Match 33 of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) in Dubai.
RR won the toss, elected to bat and sent in Robin Uthappa at his preferred opening role. The former Kolkata Knight Riders man punished the RCB bowlers in the powerplay, racing to 41 off 22 balls although his opening partner Ben Stokes couldn't quite get going.
Uthappa holed out in the deep off Yuzvendra Chahal, with Sanju Samson playing a nightmare shot off the very next ball to put RR in trouble. RR captain Steve Smith, who was in a poor run of form, walked in to join Jos Buttler in the middle, and both overseas batsmen stitched together an excellent 58-run partnership.
The Englishman didn't have a great time at the crease, but Smith and Rahul Tewatia struck some lusty blows at the end to take RR to 177/6. Chris Morris, who bowled a brilliant final over, was the pick of the RCB bowlers with figures of 4/26.
In response, apart from a couple of beautiful strokes, Aaron Finch and Devdutt Padikkal struggled to find their timing and placement. The former walked back in the 3rd over, leaving Padikkal to run hard alongside captain Virat Kohli.
The 20-year-old was dismissed off the last ball of Rahul Tewatia's spell, and the leg-spinner took a sensational catch on the boundary to send back the RCB captain off the very next ball.
After Kohli's wicket, most of RCB's hopes hinged on AB de Villiers, and he didn't disappoint. The former Proteas captain scored 55 off 22 balls, hitting 1 four and 6 sixes to take his team over the line in the final over. Steve Smith made the horrible decision of giving the penultimate over to Jaydev Unadkat ahead of Jofra Archer, with the left-armer going for 25 runs to tilt the game in RCB's favour.
Check for the highest runs in IPL list here.
Twitter had a lot to say, and here are the best reactions from the RR vs RCB IPL 2020 game.
Twitter reacts to IPL 2020, RR vs RCB