From an impossible situation, the impossible man showed nerves of steel to take RCB into the final of IPL 2016. With a loss and a second match to get to the finale looking inevitable, De Villiers weaved his ridiculous magic, scoring a brilliant unbeaten 79 to help the Royal Challengers Bangalore trump the Gujarat Lions in Qualifier 1 in Bengaluru on Tuesday. The difference between a win and defeat is five days of rest and the option to stay at home, rest those weary legs a little and just sit back and watch as the other teams slug it out to earn the right to meet RCB in the final. That luxury was possible thanks to De Villiers, who looked like he was in some trance, unaware of the wickets that were tumbling around him, with the only thought in his mind being – win the game for RCB. With the match seemingly over at 29/5, De Villiers was class personified, taking off at the right time to power his team past GL's score of 158. "I am just humbled," the always-modest De Villiers said in an interview to the IPL's official website.

"I didn't think it was possible to win from there when I started batting and when we were five or six down. I thought 'Oh, we are in trouble,' and it was a big mountain to climb from there on.Homes For Sale In The Cove Littleton Co "Dhawal Kulkarni (with figures of 4-1-14-4) bowled a fantastic spell. Bighorn Atv Tires SpecsHe almost won the game for them, but it is never over until the last ball is bowled.Puppies For Adoption Quad Cities "I tried to break it down into small targets. I wanted to focus on each ball and enjoy it even though we were down and out. I always had a bit of belief in the back of my mind. "Such games just tell you that you are never out of the game. It is a funny old game - cricket. I am so delighted to have an impact in us crossing the line.

We played a really good game of cricket." While the bowlers did their jobs in the first innings, the batsmen certainly did not "play a good game of cricket." Once Virat Kohli fell for a rare low score in the second over – had to happen eventually considering the manner in which he has carried his team on his back in IPL 2016 -- it was up to the rest of the batsmen to carry their team home, but one after another tumbled, failing to cope with the pressure exerted by Kulkarni and Ravindra Jadeja, barring one, of course. De Villiers was not exactly in his boundary-hitting zone, but he showed the determination and wherewithal necessary in such an important chase, battling it out in the middle in the early stages, before turning on the style from over number 15. "It was in that Dwayne Smith over in the 15th (when I decided to go on the attack). Virat sent a message out saying there is a bit of bad weather around and it was probably the best time to try and get up with the run-rate again," De Villiers added.

"So, I decided to have a go in that over to see where it takes us. That got us going so well and the crowd got behind us. It just didn't stop from there. We always believed we could get to the target and that is the kind of character we have in the side. We never gave up. But it looked highly unlikely to make the knockouts, never mind the final. But here we are, just humbled and very happy and hopefully we can entertain the crowd on Sunday." Entertain is what De Villiers does, having played some spectacular knocks in the past, including the one against GL in the league stage match, when he went on to score a peerless hundred. However, De Villiers rates this unbeaten 79 much higher than that century or any other he has scored in an RCB shirt, considering this innings helped his team to their third IPL final. "This is a million times better than any hundred I have scored," De Villiers said. "I have said it so many times before that I don't look at stats. I don't look at hundreds or two hundreds or all of that nonsense.

I just want to cross the line for the boys. "This was a prime example of that. I have failed so many times in the past in pressure situations like that, but (this time) my experience helped me. The amazing support here at the Chinnaswamy Stadium helped me to cross that line." Kapil Dev is clearly enamoured by Virat Kohli. Days after backing India's Test skipper to break Brian Lara's long-standing record of 400 not out, the iconic all-rounder compared Kohli to Bruce Lee, the legendary martial artist and actor from Hong Kong.Kohli, who has been in phenomenal form this year across all formats, recently revealed how he started focusing on his fitness after the Indian Premier League four years back. The results were quick to follow.By the end of 2015, Kohli was already one of the most dangerous batsmen in world cricket. And in eight months this year, Kohli has established himself as the best in the business after hammering two hundreds in the ODI series against Australia, before shifting his attention to the T20 format, where he amassed runs against the Aussies and stood out with some sterling performances in the Asia Cup and the World T20.

Photos: 26 cricket world records you must know about Kapil, India's first World Cup-winning captain, felt Kohli has been able to scale those magical peaks this year because of his steadfast dedication to fitness. "Kohli is very careful and works very hard. I just saw a photograph of Kohli without a shirt and he looked like Bruce Lee," Kapil told indiatoday.in. "You want to raise your own bar for the kind of body you want to have."Kohli already has 37 international hundreds (25 in ODIs and 12 in Tests). After blasting 973 runs, including four hundreds in the IPL, he overcame the fatigue of a packed T20 calendar to smash his maiden first class double hundred in the West Indies.Shankar Basu, Kohli's fitness trainer, said the Delhi run machine wants to be the best athlete in the world. He can rest assured that his ward is well on his way to greatness. Kohli's recent consistency has left experts stunned - the flamboyant batsman has seven hundreds this year against complex bowling attacks in varied conditions but his mantra for success has been simple: "Eat, sleep, practice, repeat!"