AB de Villiers scored a composed half-century before rain forced a no-result in the Indian Premier League match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Rajasthan Royals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Wednesday. De Villiers struck 57 off 45 balls with nine fours and six as Bangalore posted 200 for seven, but heavy rain began falling during the interval which did not allow Rajasthan to begin their reply. De Villiers may have provided the highest score but the 17-year-old Sarfaraz Khan announced himself on the big stage by racing to 45 not out off a mere 21 balls with six fours and a six. The half-century was De Villiers’s first of this year’s IPL and he relied mainly on traditional cricket shots in compiling his first fifty. De Villiers started in fine style with his first scoring stroke resulting in a four and he struck eight fours in the first 35 runs that he scored. The right-handed De Villiers brought up his fifty, off 41 balls, in emphatic fashion as he clubbed a six over deep mid-wicket with his half-century also including nine fours. But he was dismissed in the 14th over after being called through by Dinesh Karthik (27) for a non-existent single and was run out at the keeper’s end after a throw from Deepak Hooda fielding at mid-on. Bangalore suffered an early setback with the loss of Chris Gayle (10) and Virat Kohli (1) with both men dismissed by pace bowler Tim Southee as the hosts crashed to 17 for two in the third over. But De Villiers and Mandeep Singh then shared in a 74-run partnership for the third wicket off 8.2 overs before Mandeep, who scored 27 off 20 balls, was trapped leg-before by medium-pacer Stuart Binny (1-32). De Villiers’s departure left Bangalore on 124 for four before Karthik and Sarfaraz plundered 28 runs off 2.3 overs before Karthik became the second batsman to be run out during the innings. Sarfaraz, playing in just his fourth IPL match, then went on the attack as Bangalore set a competitive total despite the loss of David Wiese (11) and Harshal Patel (6). Southee ended with 2-32.
