"Alien of World Cricket!"- Fans go gaga over AB de Villiers' 'Sand Storm' in Ahmedabad

AB de Villiers' blistering 75* has taken RCB to a fighting total

AB de Villiers once again dished out a special knock to help Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) post a competitive total of 171-5 in their 20 overs. The 37-year-old smashed 75 runs off just 42 balls and took the Delhi Capitals (DC) bowling attack to the cleaners.

There were questions raised about how low AB de Villiers was batting for RCB, given the fact that most teams have tried to ensure their best batsmen must face as many deliveries as possible. But the Proteas star has taken to the No.5 position as a fish takes to the water and has already played three match-defining innings so far in the tournament.

Twitter reacts to AB de Villiers' blistering 75*

RCB fans were thrilled to see AB de Villiers play yet another potential match-winning knock to bail his team out of trouble. Despite not playing competitive cricket for a long time, De Villiers has never looked out of touch this season and has proved why he is one of the best T20 batsmen ever.

Here's how Twitter reacted to AB de Villiers' blitzkrieg:

AB Devilliers in #IPL2021:#RCB - 98/3 - scored 48(27) vs MI#RCB - 95/3 - scored 76*(34) vs KKR#RCB - 60/3 - scored 75*(42) vs DC

The dominance. pic.twitter.com/GL4wJFe2u2
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 27, 2021

AB de Villiers! Fantastic last over - 23 runs. No way I was the only RCBian praying for an ABD show 😍 #DCvRCB #RCB
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) April 27, 2021

When AB Devilliers storm ended, sand storm arrived in Motera.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 27, 2021

AB Devilliers Show:

6,0,6,6,2 in the final five balls and he completed unbeaten 75 runs from 42 balls including 3 fours and 5 sixes.

The saviour of #RCB pic.twitter.com/xbaH07uafZ
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 27, 2021

AB Devilliers is the only batsman to complete 5000 runs with a 40+ average and 150+ strike rate - Crazy in the league T20 tournament in the world.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 27, 2021

I typed "ALIEN" in my keyboard it's autocorrected as "AB de Villiers" 🔥❤️#IPL2021 #DCvsRCB pic.twitter.com/uAiGaH0mXj
— Cricket Addict 😷 #RCB❤️ (@C4Cricket_18) April 27, 2021

AB Devilliers is from another planet. That is it, that's the tweet.
— Bhawana (@bhawnakohli5) April 27, 2021

Before de Villiers (vintage Abraham Benjamin), I never thought that a right-handed batter would be my favourite. My love for left-handers remains unperturbed. But ABD and Steve Smith are my all-time favourite.

Smudge evolved like a Pokemon once but this AB guy refuses to stop.
— Sritama Panda (@cricketpun_duh) April 27, 2021

Retired Ab De Villiers is better than many players prime.
— R A T N I S H (@LoyalSachinFan) April 27, 2021

AB Devilliers, one of the greatest ever, completes 5000 runs in IPL. No one is better than him in the middle order in this league. Alien of World Cricket.
— Bhawana (@bhawnakohli5) April 27, 2021

Bowling Stoinis to De Villiers. That's violation of human rights. #IPL#RCBvsDC
— Aditya Patil 1008 (@__Adi_17) April 27, 2021

RCB didn't get off to the best of starts as their three big stars in Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell were all back in the hut with the score reading just 60. AB de Villiers walked out to bat and knew he had to consolidate the RCB innings.

Taking his time to settle, De Villiers added a crucial 54 runs with young Rajat Patidar that set the platform for the death overs. Once Patidar was dismissed, AB de Villiers took matters into his own hands and began to change gears.

DC still seemed to have had things under control until the last over when skipper Rishabh Pant decided to hand the ball to part-time pacer Marcus Stoinis. This was certainly a risk as AB de Villiers was well-set and all the other main DC pacers had bowled out their quota of overs.

The 37-year-old smashed 23 runs off the last over, including three sixes that took RCB from an under-par total to something they would be confident defending. It will be interesting to see how DC respond to this target on this two-paced wicket in Ahmedabad.