De Villiers shares Man of the Match award with Appanna – Cricket News Update
Awarded the Player of the Match award for his unbeaten 59 off 23 , which played a vital role in propelling the Royal Challengers Bangalore to a 46-run win over the Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on April 23rd, AB de Villiers
claimed that teammate KP Appanna was equally deserving of the award.
“I had a good game, I enjoyed my batting. I'd like to hand over this award to the man who took four wickets, KP Appanna. I haven't done this before. It's a team game,” said de Villiers. “He [Appanna] took four wickets and it doesn't happen every time...
That should be the Man-of-the-Match award.”
The Challengers’ batsmen put the team in a dominant position from the very start of the game, with Tillakaratne Dilshan (76) and de Villiers (59) making up for the disappointing performances of Virat Kohli (16), Mayank Agarwal (15), and Chris Gayle (4) by
establishing an unbeaten match-winning partnership of 122 runs.
The pair enabled their side to post a solid total of 189, and while their contribution got their team off to a good start, it was the stellar bowling attack of Appanna which made the chase difficult for the Royals.
The 23-year-old ripped through the Royals’ top order, dismissing Ajinkya Rahane for 13 in the 8th over, and followed that up with Owais Shah on 10 in the 12th over. Wicketkeeper batsman Shreevats Goswami was sent back to the pavilion
on 1, and Dravid was cut off at 58 off 42, caught out by Dilshan at extra cover, leaving his side at a shaky 91 for 4.
The damage done by Appanna was unfixable, and the remainder of the batting order was unable to stage a comeback, managing only 143 by the end of 20 overs – 46 runs short of the target.
Currently occupying the 6th spot on the Indian Premier League 5 points table, the Challengers appear to be on a winning streak, having won all of their last three matches, and they will be looking to continue in a similar vein as they take on
the Chennai Super Kings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 25.
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