Saturday 31 January 2015
Monday 19 January 2015
AB de Villiers breaks record of fastest ODI 100; reaches landmark in 31 balls
South Africa skipper AB de Villiers brought up the fastest One-Day International (ODI) century as he reached the three-figure mark in 31 balls against West Indies at the New Wanderers in the second ODI match on Sunday. He went past New Zealander Corey Anderson’s record of a century in 36 balls which was set on January 1 last year. In doing so, South Africa also went past their previous record total of 438 runs against Australia at the same venue, nine years back as they posted 439 runs in the opening innings.
Considered to be one of the best batsmen in modern-day cricket, AB de Villiers smashed eight boundaries and 11 sixes to reach the landmark. Earlier in the day, he also broke the ODI record for the fastest 50 as he brought up the landmark in 16 balls, overhauling Sanath Jayasuriya’s effort of 17-ball half-century. There are chants of ‘AB AB’ all over the stadium. Hashim Amla also brought up his 150.
The series is set to be the last competitive cricket the two sides will be playing ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 to be hosted in Australia and New Zealand. While the form of key players will bring good news for south Africa, West Indies will continue to get demoralised by the kind of hammering they have been dished out at the hands of the South Africans. Bizarre selection has already resulted in a lot of animosity for the west Indies ever since the Clive Lloyd-led panel decided to drop key senior players Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo from the world Cup squad. The AB De Villiers treatment on Sunday is only going to further deteriorate their morale.
