Stat Analysis: AB de Villiers' performance in crucial matches

OUT! AB de Villiers tries to go for an inside-out lofted shot and ends up giving a catch to the fielder at the edge of the mid-off ring. This was the scene at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on Sunday as Royal Challengers Bangalore collapsed after a great start against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. De Villiers, who scored 682 runs in the tournament before the game including a match changing knock in Qualifier scored just 5 runs in the final before playing the shot with 8 wickets in hand and his team needing 61 runs in 38 balls to win the IPL trophy.

AB de Villiers had to face criticism from a certain set, for failing in pressures game once again. But does ABD indeed fail often in big matches? What are his contributions in crucial games? To an extent, AB got a mark of crumbling in big games for representing South Africa, who have a pretty poor record coming to tournament knockouts. He plays for RCB in IPL, a team that also has a similar record to that of SA in the league. Adding to all these, de Villiers got run out in a couple of important situations in knockouts games.

His numbers in T20 cricket suggest that he has been pretty average in matches that matter in the shortest format but his numbers in One-day cricket are quite opposite.

Ab de Villiers in ODI knockouts:

He played in 7 knockout games in ODI cricket where he averages 54.5 which is marginally under his overall ODI average of 54.56. He got run out twice in ODI knockouts.

In matches his team won:

He got a chance to taste victory in a knockout game in international cricket only twice. He batted once out of those two where he scored an unbeaten fifty while chasing.

ODI series deciders:

While coming into bilateral ODI series deciders, AB de Villiers has an exceptional record. He averages 93.88 in the 12 games he has played including 3 centuries and received 4 Man of the match awards.

While chasing, his record is even better as he has scored 4 fifties in 4 innings in those games and was unbeaten every time.

In matches his team won:

Out of the 12 series deciders ABD has played in his career, his side won 11. Interestingly, since he made his ODI debut, the Proteas played 16 ODI series deciders and lost 4 out of 4 in which he didn’t feature.

His ODI record in big games earns more value as the current best ODI batsman Virat Kohli averages just 24.4 in the 12 innings in ODI knockouts with just one fifty and an average of 31 in the 5 series deciding matches he has played so far. However, de Villiers and Virat’s records especially in T20s are quite contrasting.

AB de Villiers in List A tournament knockouts:

(Including ODI tournament knockouts)

He has featured in 15 knockout games in List A cricket including 7 in ODIs. He averages 69.46 overall and an average of 125 while chasing.

In matches his team won:

When it comes to successful games, AB was a part of just 4 knockouts that the team won. In addition to 57* for SA in a tri-series final, he has two fifties in two games he played for the Titans including an unbeaten 97 which gave him Man of the match award.

In finals:

He hasn’t had a great time when it comes to finals. He featured in 4 List A tournament finals but his side won only one. The sole win came while chasing where he scored 57 not out whereas in 3 matches while batting first his team went on to lose the contest.

Teams wise:

AB de Villiers played for 3 different teams in List tournament knockouts- South Africa, Northerns and Titans. He averages over 54 for all the 3 teams and got run out in 4 games out of the 14 where he came out to bat.

In Finals:

T20 knockouts:

AB de Villiers batted in 16 knockout/playoff games in T20 cricket where he averages 27.64 which is 5.2 less than his actual T20 career average (32.84).

In matches his team won:

His team won 6 knockout/playoff games in T20 cricket in which he averages 67.75 and was awarded Man of the match on 3 occasions.

In Finals:

Similar to List A tournament dinals, AB’s side won in only one T20 final out of 4. They failed in three finals where they were chasing while the sole win came while batting first where he was the Man of the Match for his 24-ball 46.

Team wise:

ABD has played in 7 knockout games for Titans and 7 playoff games for RCB in T20 cricket. His two games for SA went in losing cause where he scored just 1 and 10 respectively.

In matches his team won:

He tasted win in big games in T20 cricket with RCB and Titans where he stood out as Man of the match on two occasions for RCB and once for Titans.

While chasing:

AB’s record while chasing isn’t that great except the unbeaten 79 for RCB in Qualifier 2 in this IPL season.

In Finals:

He featured in T20 finals for RCB on 2 occasions, and the team was chasing in both games and they lost in those. He averaged 11.5 in those matches. While for the Titans, he stood out as Man of the match in the T20 final where his side batted first but scored only 4 in another game where his side batted 2nd.