AB de Villiers completes 11 years of making first-ever IPL hundred on Apr 23, 2009 vs CSK

Former South African captain AB de Villiers announced himself at the IPL stage when he smashed 105* against the Chennai Super Kings on April 23, 2009. AB de Villiers had only played six matches in IPL 2008 for the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and in 2009, playing on his home soul, the Virender Sehwag-led team decided to make ABD a regular member of their playing XI. De Villiers did not disappoint as he smashed his first IPL hundred in only the ninth match of IPL 2009.

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AB de Villiers' first IPL hundred, Delhi triumph against CSK

Delhi Daredevils met MS Dhoni's CSK at Kingsmead during Match 9 of the IPL 2009. Virender Sehwag won the toss and came out to bat with Gautam Gambhir. Soon enough, both openers were sent back to the dugout for low scores and out came a promising AB de Villiers and an experienced Tillakaratne Dilshan. The two stitched together a 68-run partnership where Dilshan scored 50.

However, after Dilshan's dismissal, De Villiers decided to take charge of the innings singlehandedly. He reached his fifty in 35 balls and started to build a partnership with young Manoj Tiwary.

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CSK cannot beat AB de Villiers' brilliance

De Villiers was now in full form as he took the Chennai bowlers to the cleaners. It was now the 19th over, AB de Villiers was on 79 when MS Dhoni asked the experienced Andrew Flintoff to bowl. Flintoff ended up getting smashed around the ground 1,6,4,4,6 during the first five balls. On the final ball, AB de Villiers ran a single to get to his maiden IPL hundred in just 51 balls.

His home crowd appreciated his efforts and so did the Daredevils dugout. Due to De Villiers' brilliance, Delhi were able to post a competitive total of 189. Chennai could not match the target despite an impressive fifty by Matthew Hayden. They fell short by 9 runs and Delhi won the match.

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ABD's journey with the Delhi Capitals and RCB

The then-Daredevils steamrolled their way through IPL 2009 and ended up first on the points table. But they were knocked out by the Deccan Chargers in the semi-final of the tournament. AB de Villiers was bought by the RCB in the 2011 IPL Auctions and has been with the team since. He has scored two more hundreds in the IPL since then.

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