On this day in 2016: Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers stitch IPL’s biggest partnership

In a T20 tournament like IPL, we do often remember some great innings played by the batsmen. There have been many great performances by batsmen and bowlers which can be termed historic in the league. However, there was one particular partnership as well in the IPL which is still etched in the memories of fans. It was the Kohli-AB show in Bengaluru on this day back in 2016 when these superstars added 229 runs for the second wicket against Gujarat Lions.

And it was the same match when RCB donned the green jersey to create awareness for their ‘Go Green’ initiative. Gujarat Lions were captained by Brendon McCullum in this match as Suresh Raina was unfit. The Kiwi batsman won the toss and elected to bowl first in the batting-friendly conditions. His decision soon turned out to be a nightmare for the Gujarat bowlers.

200 partnership…in a T20 game??!!!!!!! @imVkohli @ABdeVilliers17 @RCBTweets #vivoipl pic.twitter.com/uiNtWfIthI

— Isa Guha (@isaguha) May 14, 2016

RCB lost their first wicket in the form of Chris Gayle who was dismissed by Dhawal Kulkarni after scoring 6 runs off 13 balls. After this wicket, it was all about brilliance from Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Both these superstars smashed centuries to power the team total to 248/3 in 20 overs.

AB de Villiers slammed 129 runs off 52 balls with the help of 10 fours and 12 sixes. At the other end, Virat Kohli hit 109 runs off 55 balls including 5 fours and 8 sixes. Virat got out on the second last ball of the first innings while AB de Villiers remained not out till the end.

In response to this mammoth total, the Gujarat team could not pose a challenge as they got dismissed for 104 runs in 18.4 overs. Aaron Finch was their high scorer with 37 runs off 38 balls. For RCB, Chris Jordan bowled brilliantly picking up 4 wickets for 11 runs in his 3 overs.  Apart from him, Yuzvendra Chahal and Sachin Baby took 3 and 2 wickets respectively.