IPL 2020, RCB vs MI: AB de Villiers scores half-century, joins Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma in an IPL record

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsman AB de Villiers became the sixth player to score 4,500 or more runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday. De Villiers achieved the landmark during RCB's IPL 2020 match against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

The other five batsmen to have scored 4,500 or more runs in the Indian T20 league are Virat Kohli - who is the leading run-scorer with 5,430 runs, Chennai Super Kings' Suresh Raina (5,368 runs), MI captain Rohit Sharma (4,990 runs), Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner (4,748 runs), and Delhi Capitals batsman Shikhar Dhawan (4,614 runs).

After being asked to bat first, RCB started well in their third match of the IPL 2020 on Monday. The opening duo of Aaron Finch and Devdutt Padikkal powered the Bangalore side to 81 before the Australian captain got out in the ninth over. MI pacer Trent Boult sent back Finch for 35-ball 52, which included six and seven boundaries. Four overs later, new batsman in – Virat Kohli – was dismissed by MI's Rahul Chahar, leaving RCB at 92 for 2. The wicket of Kohli brought de Villiers to the crease.

De Villiers attacked MI fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Out of the wicketkeeper-batsman's eight boundaries in the game, five were off Bumrah's bowling. The South African, who scored 24-ball 55, registered his IPL career' 35th half-century that came off 23 balls.

Padikkal and de Villiers added 64 runs for the third wicket before the Karnataka batsman got out in the 18th over. Padikkal, who made his IPL debut earlier this season, scored his second fifty in three matches. He struck two sixes and five fours in his knock of 54 from 40 deliveries.

While no Mumbai bowler was economical, Boult and Chahar were their only wicket-takers for the day. Boult removed both the RCB openers, while Chahar bagged the big fish – RCB captain Kohli, who has so far managed to score only 18 runs this IPL season.

Kings XI Punjab duo of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal currently is leading the runs chart of IPL 2020, having scored 222 and 221 runs respectively in three matches. The next batsmen in the list are CSK's Faf du Plessis (173 runs), Rajasthan Royals (RR) batsman Sanju Samson (159 runs), and RCB's de Villiers with 134 runs at an average of 67 in three innings.

Also read: IPL 2020 Full Schedule: IPL Fixtures, Date, Time and Venue

Also read: IPL 2020 Points Table, Indian Premier League 2020 Team Rankings