IPL 2018: AB de Villiers took the match away from us: Gambhir

Bengaluru, April 22: It's hard not to admire AB de Villiers even if you are in the opposition ranks. Delhi Daredevils on Saturday (April 21) was at the receiving end of AB's wizardry but that did not stop their captain Gautam Gambhir to heap encomiums on the South African.

"AB de Villiers took the game away from us. We were in the game, 175 was a great effort from the batters. The pitch was a bit tacky in the first six overs, Shreyas and Rishabh were unbelievable to tackle it and get us a good score," said Gautam Gambhir.

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"I thought our spinners could have bowled better to AB. Specially when the left-arm spinner came in there was lot of grip. AB took his chances and dominated from the get go," said Gambhir.

Gambhir also lauded Trent Boult for taking that stunner of a catch to dismiss Virat Kohli near the ropes.

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— Delhi Daredevils (@DelhiDaredevils) April 21, 2018

"The best catch I've ever seen. It was his wrong hand as well, Boult's a left-hander, he took it right-handed. I would be lying if I say I wasn't concerned. No one wants to be in this situation. Hopefully, we can turn it around when we get back home. It's tough being on the road and losing, but that's no excuse. All the teams are pretty clumped together. We just have to push in with them," added Gambhir.

Rishabh Pant played a gem of an 81 to rescue Daredevils from a shaky beginning but he too was mesmerized by AB de Villier's brilliance.

"This is how T20 games go. I played a good knock, but AB was too good," said Rishabh Pant.

"Wicket was not so easy, so we thought we'd just concentrate on having a good partnership. Because of the dew, the pitch got better in the second innings. But that's part of the game," he said.

Just 29 needed now as Anderson joins the party with a BIG 6! Smell a victory soon!#PlayBold #RCBvDD #RCB pic.twitter.com/QEPLeHCKDs

— Royal Challengers (@RCBTweets) April 21, 2018

Pant said it was an education for someone as young as him to watch AB and Virat Kohli batting.

"Every time you watch someone like Virat and AB bat, you see how easy they make it. I just try to learn from them. It was a new innovation, my scoops behind the wicket," he said.