De Villiers carnage drives South Africa to record win

Saturday, 28 February 2015 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Captain redefines limited overs battingwith quickest century in ODI on Australian soil (52 balls) and fastest 150 ever in the 50-over format (64 balls) as South Africa amass 408 for 5

SYDNEY(Reuters): AB de Villiers confirmed his status as the most destructive batsman in cricket with a magnificent unbeaten 162 from just 66 balls to lead South Africa to a record 257-run victory over West Indies in the World Cup on Friday.

South Africa’s tally of 408 for five was the second highest posted in a World Cup match and a shell-shocked West Indies could only manage 151 in reply, Chris Gayle backing up his record 215 against Zimbabwe on Tuesday with a paltry three. It was the joint fourth largest margin of victory by runs in a one-day international and also equalled the largest margin in a World Cup match, matching India’s 257-run win over Bermuda in 2007. De Villiers earlier continued his one-man mission to redefine limited overs batting with the quickest century in one-day internationals on Australian soil (52 balls) and the fastest 150 ever in the 50-over format (64 balls). Utilising his full repertoire of strokes in an awesome display of batting, he flogged the West Indies bowlers with eight sixes and 17 fours in a 104-minute knock that will live long in the memory. His last 50 runs came off just 12 balls and brought the 23,612 crowd at a sun-bathed Sydney Cricket Ground to their feet chanting “AB!, AB!, AB!”. South Africa were desperate to kickstart their campaign after their 130-run defeat to India in their last Pool B match and de Villiers ensured they would. The 31-year-old shared stands of 134 runs with RileeRossouw (61), 48 with David Miller (20) and an unbeaten 80 in 3.2 overs with FarhaanBehardien to turn around his country’s innings after West Indies had made a promising start to the match. West Indies captain Jason Holder, who had bowled two maidens, taken one wicket and conceded nine runs in his first five overs, ended up with figures of 1-104 after giving up 64 runs in his last two overs. Caribbean hopes of any kind of riposte to the carnage wrought by de Villiers rested largely in the hands of Gayle, who had contributed to his side’s good start by taking two wickets in the 30th over to reduce South Africa to 146-3. The 35-year-old opener had faced just three balls, however, when he took a huge swing at a Kyle Abbott delivery and lost his leg stump. The West Indies soon looked like the demoralised rabble that lost their tournament opener to Ireland with only Dwayne Smith (31), DeneshRamdin (22) and Holder (56), with his maiden ODI half century, offering more than token resistance. Spinner Imran Tahir finished with figures of 5-45 to become the first South African to take a five-wicket haul in a World Cup match.

It all comes down to hard work for De Villiers

SYDNEY (Reuters): AB de Villiers smashed West Indies bowlers from pillar to post for the quickest 150 in one-day internationals on Friday but the South African skipper said only hard work earns a batsman the right to dominate in such a fashion. The 31-year-old’s innings of 162 not out from 66 balls climaxed with a stunning final passage where he blasted his final 50 runs off just 12 balls to bring the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground to its feet. “You get into that kind of mode, and it doesn’t happen very often, it’s quite a good feeling to feel one step ahead of the bowlers, that’s the main thing,” he told reporters. “You get a really good gut feel for what they’re trying to do. It’s part of cricket, you work really hard trying to get in, you work really hard to get some momentum behind you, then you’ve earned the right to take control of the game. “Sometimes it goes you way, sometimes it doesn’t. I got dropped a couple of times which helped me really free up and dominate a bit at the end.” “A bit” is something off an understatement and the West Indies bowlers must be heartily sick of the sight of de Villiers after he hit the fastest one-day fifty (16 balls) and fastest century (31 balls) against them in Johannesburg last month. The sheer range of shots he played on Friday was breathtaking but he admitted to feeling out of sorts when he came out to join Rilee Rossouw in the middle with his side becalmed at 146-3. “Rilee played a big part in me getting off my feet today,” he said. “I didn’t feel too well going out to the wicket, a bit flat. He had a lot energy about him, a lot of intensity, getting into a lot of good positions, making it look flat out there. “We were getting a lot of momentum behind us at a really quick pace. We’re both really aggressive players, we ran a lot of twos, and all of that together helped in me having a go.” The victory by a World Cup record-equalling 257 runs was the statement South Africa had been looking for after they fell to an embarrassing 130-run defeat to India in their last Pool B match in Melbourne. “I really thought the guys were motivated today to play some good cricket,” he said. “It’s great to see the team like that, hustling around. You could see their eyes were open, ready to fight. It’s a great turnaround after loss at the MCG.”