<p>AB de Villiers, as he so often does, fired his side, Middlesex to victory over Essex on his T20 Blast debut last night. He remained unbeaten on 88 off 43 balls, and shared a crucial 105-run partnership with Middlesex captain, Dawid Malan.</p>.<p>The South African maverick looked to be batting on a different pitch compared to his skipper, who made a rather laboured 43 off 34 balls. The Lord's ground, which was treated to what is probably the greatest World Cup final witnessed so far, was in for a different type of fireworks when de Villiers walked out to the crease, with Middlesex at a slightly vulnerable position of 39-2 in 5.2 overs, chasing 165. In the end, they romped home with 7 wickets and three overs to spare. </p>.<p>de Villiers had come under a lot of criticism in the midst of the Proteas' troubled World Cup campaign when it was revealed that he had offered to come out of international retirement a day before the World Cup squad was supposed to be announced. A lot of people accused him of being selfish, and the former captain waited until the World Cup was over before clarifying his stand on Twitter.</p>.<p>He claimed that there was no animosity between captain Faf du Plessis, whom he has known since childhood and himself, and neither was he warring with the cricket board.</p>
<p>AB de Villiers, as he so often does, fired his side, Middlesex to victory over Essex on his T20 Blast debut last night. He remained unbeaten on 88 off 43 balls, and shared a crucial 105-run partnership with Middlesex captain, Dawid Malan.</p>.<p>The South African maverick looked to be batting on a different pitch compared to his skipper, who made a rather laboured 43 off 34 balls. The Lord's ground, which was treated to what is probably the greatest World Cup final witnessed so far, was in for a different type of fireworks when de Villiers walked out to the crease, with Middlesex at a slightly vulnerable position of 39-2 in 5.2 overs, chasing 165. In the end, they romped home with 7 wickets and three overs to spare. </p>.<p>de Villiers had come under a lot of criticism in the midst of the Proteas' troubled World Cup campaign when it was revealed that he had offered to come out of international retirement a day before the World Cup squad was supposed to be announced. A lot of people accused him of being selfish, and the former captain waited until the World Cup was over before clarifying his stand on Twitter.</p>.<p>He claimed that there was no animosity between captain Faf du Plessis, whom he has known since childhood and himself, and neither was he warring with the cricket board.</p>
