Big honour to be in a final with this great franchise: AB de Villiers

"I thought I'd have to say a lot to him (Abdulla) but he was probably calmer than me," AB de Villiers heaps praise on his young teammate. © BCCI

At 68 for 6 near the halfway stage in chase, Royal Challengers Bangalore's hope of cruising through to the Indian Premier League 2016 final was in absolute tatters. Stuart Binny, the last recognised batsman of a reputed top-order walked back, albeit to a poor umpiring call while AB de Villiers watched helplessly from the non-striker's end. Back in the dug-out, Virat Kohli, still padded up since falling in the second over for his first IPL duck in two years, was livid at the umpire's gaffe, walking up to an official at the boundary line and gesticulating wildly. In the middle, Gujarat Lions huddled around Ravindra Jadeja, who'd added to Royal Challengers' procession and given the first-timers a reason to believe that a victory was there to be had.

When Iqbal Abdulla joined de Villiers, Royal Challengers still needed 91 off 63 balls - an equation that looked far more daunting than it already was as they were four mistakes away from losing the contest. 

"To be very honest, I thought I'd have to say a lot to him (Abdulla) but he was probably calmer than me. When he walked up, you could see that he has done this before," AB de Villiers would describe his batting partner in the post-match press conference. 

De Villiers endured a tough night to begin with. He walked out due to his skipper's rare failure and watched Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Shane Watson and Sachin Baby depart in a span of 13 deliveries before plotting a recovery plan with Binny. That too didn't last. Abdulla, much to the chagrin of the Lions, turned out to be the one man who was capable of standing long enough for de Villiers to ensure the game was seen off. Understandably, the South African had a lot of praise to shower. 

"He had a calm head on his shoulders and straight away understood what I was trying to tell him. I didn't have to talk to him after that. You can just see it when you have a connection with someone his eyes were open and he was there to win the game for the team and cross the line with me. A lot of credit should go to him, fantastic partnership," de Villiers quipped. 

The 'connection' that de Villiers struck early with Abdulla went a long way in helping the duo stitch together their unbeaten, match-winning stand of 91 runs off just 36 balls for the seventh wicket, the best partnership of the night on a surprisingly two-paced strip at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.

"It was a funny kind of wicket. I thought anything more than 160 and we'd be in trouble. It didn't seem like a wicket where you can just go and score. I always felt we needed a foundation in the first six but we didn't get that," de Villiers said, before crediting Dhawal Kulkarni for a fantastic spell of bowling that saw him reduce the Royal Challengers to 25 for 3 in the fourth over.

"Kulkarni bowled that fantastic spell, a lot of credit should go to him. He basically had the game in the pocket but like Zaheer Khan always tells me, it's a funny old game and you're never out of it. We had a lot of belief. They almost won the game in the powerplay but we kept fighting," the South African swashbuckler added. 

With this win, their fifth on the bounce, Royal Challengers became the first finalist of the tournament and are primed to lift the IPL trophy that has eluded them all these years. De Villiers, who has been with the franchise since 2011, conveyed his delight at the prospect of playing in a final. 

"Tonight was a special for me. To cross the line for the team, to have an impact on winning the game that's why I play this game. Honestly, I can't explain what this final means to me. I haven't played in a lot of finals throughout my career.

"I've been with RCB for six years. We haven't seen a lot of finals. Lot of people say we were under-performing. But it's moments like this that really makes it worthwhile. We've had a great team spirit for quite a few years. We've played some really good cricket. Never got to really enjoy a final and hopefully we'll win it. We don't know what's going to happen. It is a great honour and privilege to be in a final with this great franchise, which has looked after me and the team so well over the years," he gushed.