AB de Villiers struck a majestic unbeaten 41 -ball 89 as Royal Challengers Bangalore snatched a thrilling victory from the jaws of defeat against Sunrisers I lyderabad at their M Chanaswami home ground vesterdav. Chasing a fighting Hyderabad total of 155, the home side were reeling at 59-4 by the end of the 10th over with their top batsmen Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle already back in the hutch.

But de Villiers refused to die without a fight, a fight he fought along after Yuvraj Singh departed without contributing much.

Arguably the best batsman at the moment, the South African captain raced to his 50 off only 23 delivers that contained five sixes and a couple of boundaries. The right-hander started his assault after the 15th over with his side needing another 59 runs. His first target was West Indies captain Darren Sammy, who conceded 19 runs in the 16th. De Villiers's compatriot and fast bowler Dale Steyn threatened to turn the tied around in the next over, where he conceded only three.

But de Villiers stuck his guns to Steyn in the penultimate over, hitting a four and three sixes including a heartstopping scoop over the fine-leg boundary. The over yielded 24 runs, leaving Bangalore with a simple task of scoring 4 runs from the last six delivers. The right-hander fitting ended the chase, hitting the second last ball for a four.

"It is one of those nights where things go your way. He (Steyn) won the first set and I won the second. I would have loved to have a third set against him. In those kinds of situations it is the small things that matter the most. It is team spirit, such things that matter in the end," said de Villiers, the undisputed man-of-the-match.

His captain Kohli said: "He (AB) is the best player in the world by far. He has shown it every now and then, and he has shown it again today why he is rated the number one in the world in any format."

SCORES IN BRIEF

HYDERABAD: 155-6 in 20 overs (Dhawan 37, Warner 61; Stare 2-21, Aaron 2-33)BANGALORE: 158-6 in 19.5 overs (AB de Villiers 89 not out, Gayle 27; K Sharma 3-17, B Kumar 2-16)

Result: Bangalore won by 4 wickets.

Player-of-the-match: AB de Villiers