Another astonishing innings from South Africa’s captain lit up the fourteenth day of the ICC Cricket World Cup
AB de Villiers blasted an unbeaten 162 from only 66 balls to propel his side to 408-5 and a whopping 257-run victory over the West Indies in Sydney.
Chasing a notional target of 409 the two-time former world champions were then dismissed for a paltry 151 in only 33.1 overs with Jason Holder scoring 56 and Imran Tahir taking 5-45, the first five-wicket haul by a South African bowler in World Cup history.
The West Indies’ attack will already be sick at the sight of Abraham Benjamin de Villiers in 2015 because this was his second mauling against them already this year.
On January 18th he made 149 from only 44 deliveries in Johannesburg, breaking the records for the fastest One Day International 50 and 100 in the process.
This time he added the quickest ever ODI 150 to his tally of achievements, smashing his way to it from only 64 balls.
de Villiers had arrived at the crease in the 30th over, with the score on 146-3. At that stage a score of around 300 seemed plausible.
By the time he walked off the SCG he had hit 17 fours and 8 sixes, had left the West Indies in complete disarray and taken his side to the highest ODI total ever seen in Australia.
The closing 20 overs of the innings produced 261 runs, with Holder’s figures taking a real pasting. The young West Indies’ captain finished with 10-2-104-1, being hit for 34 in his penultimate over (which included 2 no-balls) and 30 in his last.
de Villiers had, apparently, been touch-and-go as to whether he played after being unwell with a stomach upset that kept him awake all night.
It didn’t show as he flew to a century from only 52 balls, only 2 slower than Kevin O’Brien’s World Cup record.
The platform had been set for his destruction by a trio of sixty-plus scores after Quinton de Kock had fallen for 12.
Hashim Amla made 65, Francois du Plessis 62 and Rilee Rossouw, a rapid-fire 61 from 39 balls. Jerome Taylor’s sensational boundary catch to remove David Miller was one of the few highlights in the fielding effort.
South Africa’s eventual total has only been bettered once in World Cup history, India having made 413-55 against Bermuda in Port-of-Spain in 2007.
West Indies had only ever chased a 300-plus score once before so needed some impetus from their in-form players at the top of the order but it wasn’t forthcoming.
Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels had both reached three figures in their previous outing, adding 372 together against Zimbabwe.
Neither hung around at the crease for too long against the South Africans though, with Kyle Abbott picking up both of their wickets.
Abbott, in for the injured Vernon Philander, shared the new ball and made an instant impression.
Gayle was bowled for only 3 in the second over and Samuels was lucky not to follow next ball. Given not out, the fielding side elected not to review the lbw decision but replays suggested the ball was clearly striking the heart of the middle stump.
Samuels wasn’t reprieved for long, edging the same bowler behind for a 9-ball duck. Wickets from successive deliveries reduced the score to 52-4 after 11.1 overs.
Morne Morkel saw off Jonathan Carter at the end of his over and from the first ball of the next Dwayne Smith was spectacularly caught at long on by a diving Miller.
That had been from Tahir’s first delivery and from his sixth he had Lendl Simmons lbw for nought.
Replays suggested another review howler was made as Simmons didn’t refer it but seemed to have got a thick nick onto his pads.
The sharpest of stumpings from de Kock sent back Darren Sammy and three balls later Andre Russell hit to point.
A well-flighted googly turned through the defences of Denesh Ramdin to give the leg spinner his first five-wicket haul in ODI cricket.
Another failure to review an lbw decision spared Holder who took advantage by going on to reach his maiden ODI fifty (44 balls 3x4 3x6).
Dale Steyn ended Holder’s stoic resistance, having him caught at mid on and Morkel swiftly saw off last man Sulieman Benn to inflict the World Cup’s largest-ever margin of defeat upon the hapless Caribbeans.
With two wins and two defeats so far, West Indies has some real work to do to qualify for the knock-out stages but have tough opposition up next when they face India, in Perth next Friday.
South Africa now has two wins and a loss on their record ahead of a match with Pakistan, in Auckland next Saturday.
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