DUBAI: Skipper Virat Kohli yesterday praised AB de Villiers' "super-human" effort on a sluggish pitch after the South African great hit a match-winning 73 for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. Bangalore thrashed Kolkata Knight Riders by 82 runs in Sharjah as De Villiers stood tall with his 33-ball blitz and an unbeaten century stand with Kohli, who made 33. Bangalore posted 194 for two, a total their bowlers defended by keeping down Kolkata to 112 for nine in 20 overs.

De Villiers, 36, brought the house down with two of his six sixes going out of the stadium and one hitting a moving car on the road as he went past 3000 runs in the Twenty20 tournament. "Barring one super-human, everyone struggled on that pitch," Kohli said of his star player who hit his third half-century of the season on a slow Sharjah pitch. "It was unbelievable. I thought I had a few balls under my belt, and I might start striking. He just came in and struck the third ball, and said he felt good.

"I said you might see a lot of people do what is done in other games, but only AB can did what he did. It was a fabulous knock. We were looking at 160-165, and it was only thanks to his genius we got to 195." De Villiers took the attack to the opposition bowlers with Kohli playing second fiddle at the other end as the duo scored 83 runs from the final 30 deliveries of the innings. "I am very happy with my performance. That's all I can say," De Villiers said after being named of the match. "I got a duck last game, that is a terrible feeling. I am very happy that I contributed. I surprised myself today to be honest."

Opener Aaron Finch, who made 47, and Devdutt Padikkal, who hit 32, set the platform for Bangalore's total with a 67-run stand. Kolkata's bowling looked dismal in the absence of spinner Sunil Narine who was dropped from the XI after being under warning for a suspect bowling action. Kolkata skipper Dinesh Karthik said it was just "hard to stop" a "world-class player" like AB. "He was the difference between the two teams. We tried everything. The only ball was the perfect inswinging yorker. Anything else was going," said Karthik.

Sharma's injure
In another development, India paceman Ishant Sharma has been ruled out for the remainder of the Indian Premier League season after tearing a muscle during a training session, his franchise Delhi Capitals said Monday. Sharma, 32, has played just one game for Delhi, who are level on 10 points with table-toppers Mumbai Indians in the ongoing season of the Twenty20 tournament in the United Arab Emirates. "Delhi Capitals fast bowler Ishant Sharma experienced an acute episode of left rib cage pain while bowling at a team training session on 7 October 2020 in Dubai," said a Delhi statement.

"Subsequent investigations revealed that he sustained a left internal oblique muscle tear. This injury will unfortunately rule him out of the remainder of the Dream11 Indian Premier League 2020." Sharma, who has played 97 Tests and 80 one-day internationals for India, is the second blow for the Shreyas Iyer-led Delhi, who lost leg-spinner Amit Mishra to a finger injury last week. Sunrisers Hyderabad have also been hit by injuries with Australia's Mitchell Marsh and Indian quick Bhuvneshwar Kumar ruled out of the IPL. The 53-day, money-spinning league, which is into its 13th edition, will conclude on November 10.- Agencies