Bengaluru fans got their money's worth in Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) final home game of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season on Thursday, May 17.
The crowd at M Chinnaswamy Stadium was treated to some high-quality all-round action as the hosts edged out table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad to seal a 14-run win and keep themselves in contention for a playoff spot.
Among the many memorable moments was AB de Villiers' stunning one-handed catch. The South African superstar's gravity-defying stunt to dismiss Sunrisers' Alex Hales in the eighth over of the visitors' 219-run chase left the cricket fraternity awestruck.
From fielding great Jonty Rhodes to television journalists, umpteen cricket fans are raving about de Villiers' effort along the boundary rope.
De Villiers can do 'freakish things': Kohli
However, for skipper Virat Kohli, de Villiers' "freakish" fielding efforts doesn't come as a surprise anymore.
The Indian captain lauded de Villiers' catch, saying it was "Spiderman stuff" but, at the same time, insisted he is getting used to such efforts from his RCB teammate.
"That was spiderman stuff. You don't do that as normal human beings. I thought it's going for a six and then he pulls it out and then the balance," Kohli spoke of de Villiers' catch.
He added: "He can do freakish things, I am used to it now. His shots still leave me in awe but his fielding I am used to. But that was fun to watch."
De Villiers' catch came at the right time for the Royal Challengers as Hales was hitting the big ones consistently for SRH in their steep chase. The England opener had survived a close call and was handed a reprieve by Virat Kohli, who spilled a tough chance in the fifth over.
Hales tried to up the ante after two quiet overs by stepping out and muscling Moeen Ali's delivery towards the deep midwicket boundary. The ball was sailing over the ropes when de Villiers stuck his right hand out and held the ball in one hand when he was still in the air.
The South African star landed perfectly, defying laws of physics, and made sure he did not touch the boundary ropes as well. Even as the crowd was going bonkers, Kohli and the Men in Red sprinted towards their RCB teammate to join the celebration.
Watch AB de Villiers' one-handed stunner and check out these reactions to it.
Jonty Rhodes and others react to de Villiers' catch
"That (catch) was freakish, Spiderman stuff. His shots still leave me in awe" @RCBTweets captain @imVkohli is an @ABdeVilliers17 fan just like us #VIVOIPL #RCBvSRH pic.twitter.com/8B2USSrjgE
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 17, 2018
#insane #ABD #whatacatch @ABdeVilliers17
— Jonty Rhodes (@JontyRhodes8) May 17, 2018
@ABdeVilliers17 as honorary CM of Karnataka anyone? You get what you see, and what you see is quite spectacular
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 17, 2018
Forget Karnataka nataka! Just watch @ABdeVilliers17 take a catch for the ages. Wish Bengaluru's netas could provide us something similar to look forward to! #RCBvSRH
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) May 17, 2018
You could dream about taking the craziest catch, but it won't beat the reality that @ABdeVilliers17 just showed us #RCBvSRH
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) May 17, 2018
This is how Ab De Villiers saves RCB in IPL #RCBvSRH pic.twitter.com/DnXIi5pL13
— Rishabh Srivastava (@AskRishabh) May 17, 2018
