CAPE TOWN – A few years ago, we thought we won’t see much of AB de Villiers on a cricket field anymore.
Married life and fatherhood became the most important aspects of his life, but after a lengthy break, the Proteas star is back to his astonishing best.
After playing a leading role in South Africa’s 3-1 triumph over Australia in the recent Test series, De Villiers has continued on his merry way for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
He’s been in fine form with the bat, and scored another sparkling 69 off just 39 balls (12x4, 1x6) for RCB against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday.
But this time, it was about another magic trick De Villiers performed in the field that left the cricket world amazed by his brilliance.
🗣 "Our bowlers bowled well with the wet ball." @ABdeVilliers17 credits our unsung heroes while reflecting on the importance of tonight's win! #PlayBold #RCBvSRH pic.twitter.com/e4nguprjQM
— Royal Challengers (@RCBTweets) May 17, 2018
English opener Alex Hales swung hard at a Moeen Ali delivery, and it looked like it was going all the way for six over midwicket.
But Hales didn’t reckon with De Villiers, who leaped into the air and took an unbelievable one-handed catch that had the home crowd at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on their feet.
Hales was gone for 34 off 26 balls, and it played a vital part in RCB winning by 14 runs in the end.
“Saw #SpiderMan Live today!” tweeted RCB teammate Virat Kohli about De Villiers’ superb grab.
"That (catch) was freakish, Spiderman stuff. His shots still leave me in awe" @RCBTweets captain @imVkohli is an @ABdeVilliers17 fan just like us #VIVOIPL #RCBvSRH pic.twitter.com/8B2USSrjgE
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 17, 2018
Saw #SpiderMan Live today! 😮 @abdevilliers17 #RCBvsSRH #IPL2018 pic.twitter.com/mUuGVKuTn4
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) May 17, 2018
Moeen told the IPL website: “It was obviously an unbelievable catch, one of the best I’ve ever seen. When he (Hales) hit it, I thought ‘Six’. But with AB, they’ve always got a chance and, what a grab. He is an amazing fielder and everyone knows that.”
@ashfakmohamed