<p><strong>De Villiers credits fellow batsmen for win over Chargers – Cricket News Update</strong></p>
<p>AB de Villiers lauded his fellow batsmen for the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 5-wicket win over the Deccan Chargers on May 6 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, saying the openers had laid the foundation upon which the victory had been built.</p>
<p>“… we needed our openers to build a foundation to launch a blitz right at the end ... and luckily I was there in the end to do the job,” de Villiers said.</p>
<p>The Royal Challengers’ 182-run chase was helped immensely by de Villiers’ 47 off 17, but the Proteas batsman gave credit to the openers, Chris Gayle (26) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (71) for their solid 91-run opening partnership.</p>
<p>The opening stand put the team on solid ground, but the game reached a precarious point in the 14th over, during which Amit Mishra dismissed both Virat Kohli (9) and Asad Pathan (4), with the hosts at 106 – 76 runs short of the target.</p>
<p>By the 18<sup>th</sup> over, the Challengers needed 39 runs from 18 deliveries. However, de Villiers’ timely contribution, including a brilliantly played 18<sup>th</sup> over, during which he hit fellow South African Dale Steyn for 23 (3 runs and 4 boundaries),
and 3 more boundaries in the 19<sup>th</sup> over, got his side up to 185 with 7 deliveries remaining.</p>
<p>In addition to praising the openers, the right-hander went on to appreciate youngster Mayank Agarwal, who joined him for a 5<sup>th</sup> wicket 26-run stand, along with scoring a quick-fire 18 off 6 balls.</p>
<p>“Some of the players around me played amazing knocks. Mayank, above all, pushed the button by hitting two sixes and a boundary,” de Villiers said. “He took risks even before I did. His knock set the game perfectly for me to finish it off.”</p>
<p>Despite his stellar individual performance, and the team’s victory which propelled them to the number 5 spot on the tournament points table, de Villiers insisted that the Challengers had a long road ahead of them.</p>
<p>“It is not over yet, we have a long way to go. This win has given us the required momentum, but we have to play some good cricket in the upcoming games,” said the 28-year-old, refusing to adopt a complacent attitude.</p>
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