"Mr 360" was at his big-hitting best when he came out to bat against Kings XI Punjab at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, helping Royal Challengers Bangalore to clinch their third successive victory with 17 runs and keep themselves alive in the tournament.
De Villiers (82* off 44) and Marcus Stoinis (46* off 34) added 121 runs for the fifth wicket to power Bangalore to 202 for 4 in 20 overs. Despite the surface being a belter and Punjab's top-five batsmen getting solid starts, the target looked far-distant and the visitors could only manage to put 185/7 on the board.
With this victory, RCB climbed one spot up and pushed Steve Smith's Rajasthan Royals to the bottom on the points table.
But the highlight of the match, a scene now considered "beyond science," was a six that came off De Villiers' bat.
The incident came in the 19th over when Mohammed Shami bowled a chest-high beemer to AB. Looking to protect himself, the RCB batter ducked and looked away, yet swinging his bat and managing to find a connection.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The white ball, shot from a cannon, flew 95-metres away and landed on Chinnaswamy's rooftop.
Fans, commentators, and Shami were left scratching their heads after the freak show.
Ab de Villiers' one handed six Out of the ground😍 ❤ 💪 #RCBvKXIP #KXIPvRCB #Superman pic.twitter.com/OviA1rvLZ5
— Sameer Khan🏏 (@5ameer_khan) April 25, 2019
Shot of the season. @ABdeVilliers17. pic.twitter.com/LT5mceVRI4
— Johns (@CricCrazyJohns) April 24, 2019
One handed look away six by AB de Villiers.
— Peter Lalor (@plalor) April 24, 2019
The BBL needs this man ...
https://t.co/LgWYrdHHz9
AB de Villiers sent a ball to the Chinnaswamy roof when he was trying to save himself from being hit. #IPL2019
— Shubh AggarWall (@shubh_chintak) April 24, 2019
AB De Villiers.... now you sir, are a JOKE! 😳😳👏🏼👏🏼
— Ben Duckett (@BenDuckett1) April 24, 2019
Just AB de Villiers things! 🔥💯#RCBvKXIP pic.twitter.com/XlfKtRy7Nw
— Aditi (@Aditiab17) April 25, 2019
Even One hand is enough for AB De Villiers to smash the ball out of the ground... Whaddey Player!😀
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) April 24, 2019
This one handed Shot from @ABdeVilliers17 went out of the ground 😱🔥🔥🔥
— Thala Ajith™️ (@Dinu_Akshiii) April 24, 2019
Just #AB Things 💪#RCBvKXIP pic.twitter.com/Qdd7bpcXIm
Show me better shot than this i will wait ❤️❤️❤️❤️😍😍😍😍
— H A S E E B Devilliers 🇵🇰 (@seebi17) April 24, 2019
Mr.360 hats off ❤️😘😘😘
Proud to be ur fan ❤️❤️
No words to explain this shot 😍😍😍@ABdeVilliers17 #Mr360 pic.twitter.com/p4vxN7OoZV
Still wondering how AB De Villiers hit that ball out of the stadium without even looking and in one hand. After all, he's known for doing astonishing things in cricket! You should not have retired from international cricket, AB! 😭 #RCBvKXIP
— George AB Addict (@VijayIsMyLife) April 24, 2019
The video of the outrageous six was later uploaded by IPL here: www.iplt20.com.
