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.

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. 

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.

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.