Video: AB de Villiers fires fastest 150 in ODI cricket to script history

AB de Villiers is reckoned as the superman of contemporary cricket for a reason. He has redefined batting with his unique style of play and ability to score in all parts of the ground. He has rewritten the syllabus of batting in all formats with guile and canniness. De Villiers belongs to rare breed of batsmen who are equally effective against pace and spin irrespective of the conditions. He is the reason behind nightmares for many world-class bowlers.

February 27, 2015, was the day when De Villiers inscribed his name with gold in the history of cricket as he broke many records with his explosive batting. It was the 19th game of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Down Under at Sydney between South Africa and West Indies. This was South Africa’s third game of the tournament and they were coming to this game after suffering a massive defeat at the hands of India. But that hardly seemed to have bothered them as what they did next was iconic. West Indies have already witnessed the brutal side of de Villiers at Johannesburg a month where the maverick right-handed batsman smashed the fastest fifty and ton in ODI cricket. But the Caribbean side were unaware of the fact that another storm was going to struck them later in the day at Sydney. After winning the toss, the Proteas elected to bat first on a pitch which was conducive for batting. They got off to a shaky start as Quinton de Kock was dismissed for a mere 12 while the South Africans were 18 for one. After which Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla weathered the early storm and sailed the South African ship out of choppy waters. Rilee Rossouw too chipped with a priceless 61, by now is was evident that the pitch was conducive for batting and bowlers were having a tough time out there at Sydney.

The storm arrives

De Villiers walked out in the middle after Hashim Amla was sent back by Chris Gayle for a fighting 65 while South Africa delicately placed at 146 for the loss of three wickets. De Villiers started off cautiously as he wasn’t looking to go blitzkrieg from the outset at Sydney. In fact, he struck his first boundary on the 19 delivery, which he faced from Jerome Taylor.

He swiftly gained momentum and started to put his foot on the accelerator, in no time he scored his fifty, which came off just 30 deliveries. He lofted a short pitched delivery over cover to reach his half-century in style. This was the changing moment of the match as he kept taking West Indian bowlers for cleaner and never looked back. He brought up his ton with a massive six and achieved the milestone in just 52 deliveries, which was also the second fastest ton in World Cup history.

He took just 22 deliveries to add another fifty to his existing half-century and gave a sign that he was hungry for more. De Villiers was not done yet and wanted to add more agony on the languishing West Indies team. He reached his 150 mark even faster as compared to his run from 50 to 100. He scored 150 off just 64 deliveries and recorded the fastest 150 in ODI cricket. This time he took just 12 deliveries to steer from 100 to 150. South Africa piled up 262 runs in their last 20 overs which is also a record in World Cup. He remained unbeaten on 162 as his knock included 17 boundaries and eight massive sixes only to jockey South Africa to a mammoth total of 408 in their 50 overs.

South Africa won the game by a convincing margin of 257 runs and West Indies also recorded the joint worst defeat in World Cup. This knock by De Villiers will be remembered for generations and further South Africa kept their hopes of making to the knock-out stages alive after winning this battle. West Indies would have had enough of de Villiers and will be hoping to come up with some tactic to counter attack him in the future.

(Suraj Choudhari,, an avid cricket follower who plays the sport at club level, is a staffer with Criclife)