IPL 9: AB de Villiers recalls 'the gamble' that paid off vs Gujarat Lions during 79-run knock

New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman (RCB) AB de Villiers recalled a gamble he took against Gujarat Lions (GL) during IPL Qualifer 1 which paid off.

In a column for Hindustan Times, the South African said that during his knock, he received a message from Virat Kohli where the skipper asked him to go after part-time pacer Dwayne Smith – a gamble which paid off.

"At some stage, we needed to take risks and have one big over and, with the threat of rain, Virat Kohli made a great call when he sent a message, saying we should go after the 15th over bowled by Dwayne Smith. The gamble came off and the 14 runs in that over swung the game in our favour," AB said.

AB added that despite a shocking top-order collapse, he was confident of turning the game as he was seeing the ball pretty well.

"Even amid the top-order collapse, I felt we could turn the game around. Anything is possible in T20 cricket and I tried to focus on ‘seeing the ball’ well, and, from my first delivery, I felt as though I was seeing the ball pretty well. That’s always a good sign," the 32-year-old said.

After RCB had lost 6 wickets for 68 runs, AB weathered the storm with an unbeaten 79-run knock and stitched a match-winning 91-run stand with all-rounder Iqbal Abdullah (33*).

RCB will now take on the winner of the Gujarat Lions vs Sunrisers Hyderabad match at Chinnaswamy Satadium on May 29.