Villiers conjured an unbeaten 133 off just 59 balls. His record-breaking 215-run stand with Kohli sees RCB win high-scoring game by 39 runs.
It was always on the cards, wasn't it? Prior to Sunday's showdown, AB de Villiers had notched up a few 40s and a half-century this season. A big one was always around the corner. Unfortunately for the capacity crowd at the Wankhede, the Royal Challengers Bangalore superstar chose to do it against Mumbai Indians.
The South African got the perfect platform and the perfect partner to force home the point that he was the very best in the business. That apart, he proved T20 wasn't just about brutal hitting. De Villiers's masterful unbeaten 133 (59 balls, 19x4, 4x6), backed brilliantly by captain Virat Kohli's 82 not out (50 balls, 6x4, 4x6) powered the visitors to a mammoth 235/1 against a hapless attack. Their unbeaten 215-run partnership, off only 102 balls, was the highest in the history of the IPL.
Chasing such a target was going to next to impossible. And in spite of some lusty blows from the West Indian combo of Lendl Simmons (68 not out off 53 balls) and Kieron Pollard (49 off 24 balls), MI could only manage 196/7 to go down by 39 runs.
More on the AB show. There were signs that he, along with Kohli, were in for the long haul. RCB scored only 39/1 in the first six overs, which could easily have been 39/2 had the MI fielders not looked like they were taking an afternoon nap.
If Rohit Sharma dropping a skier off Chris Gayle at mid-on in the third over wasn't bad enough, then Harbhajan Singh spilling Kohli at first slip off the very next ball certainly was. The Gayle drop didn't cost MI too much, but Kohli's did.
India's best batsman played the perfect second fiddle as the world's best did his thing at the other end. De Villiers opened up in the eighth over, driving Harbhajan through the covers for four and then dancing town the track to deposit one over the mid-wicket fence.
It released the floodgates, and the run sequence from overs 8 to 12 read 15, 12, 15, 13, 13. There was nothing extravagant from de Villiers. All he did was use the depth of the crease, moving around to confuse the bowlers, working the gaps, and creaming the odd ball over the top.
With Kohli going smooth at the other end, they went about collecting more than 10 runs for the next few overs. But de Villiers's astute presence of mind coupled with his extraordinary abilities came to the fore in the 15th over bowled by Hardik Pandya. The South African slapped the second delivery through covers for a boundary, and went over it the next ball for the same result. MI skipper Sharma changed the field, getting long-off up and putting a man at deep extra-cover. And what did AB do next? Cream a full toss over mid-off for four.
Sharma just stood there helpless, watching the ball sail over his head. A genius was at work.
The 31-year-old shifted gears in the last five overs, bringing up his 100 off just 47 balls with one of his typical shots: going down on one knee and striking the ball over square-leg.
Why, he even toyed with an otherwise economical Malinga in the penultimate over, doing a repeat act of his century shot and then making room to place one through the covers.
And amidst the AB special, Kohli dished out some of his very own in the last over, smacking two boundaries and a six off three balls as the duo added a whopping 88 runs in the last five overs.
An exhausted AB walked off as most of the MI players went up to to him for a handshake. It was just that kind of an innings.
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