Press Trust of India
Sydney, Feb 27: Sydney, Feb 27: Skipper AB de Villiers was again at his swash buckling best as he hammered the fastest 150 in ODI history and second quickest 100 in World Cup history to lead South Africa to a record equalling 257-run win over the West Indies in a Pool B encounter, here Friday.
Thanks to a sensational 162 n o (66b, 17×4, 8×6) from De Villiers, the Proteas posted 408 for five, befittingly on the same ground where the talented, ‘408’ Aussie baggy green holder, Phil Hughes collapsed after being hit by a bouncer, which is second highest in the World Cups and then skittled out the Windies for a paltry 151.
Leg-spinner Imran Tahir (5/45) returned with career-best figures as he destroyed the Windies middle order after Kyle Abbot had got rid of last game’s centurions – Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels.
Electing to bat, South Africa made a cautious but solid start with Hashim Amla( 65, 88b, 1×4, 1×6) and Faf du Plessis (62, 70b, 3×4) scoring sedate half centuries before the destructive De Villiers took over to treat the capacity SCG crowd with an unbelievable show of boundary hitting. He was ably supported by Rilee Rossouw 61 (39b, 6×4, 1×6) as South Africa amassed 150 runs from the final 10 overs.
The acrobatic and innovative De Villiers was particularly harsh on Holder whom he hit for 34 and 30 runs in the 48th and 50th overs respectively and it just took him just 12 balls to reach 150 from 100.
Scoreboard
South Africa: Quinton de Kock c Russell b Holder 12, Hashim Amla lbw b Gayle 65, Faf du Plessis c Ramdin b Gayle 62, Rilee Rossouw c Ramdin b Russell 61, AB de Villiers n o 162, David Miller c Taylor b Russell 20, Farhaan Behardien n o 10, Extras: (lb-2, w-11, nb-3) 16, Total: (for five wickets) 408.
Fall: 1/18, 2/145, 3/146, 4/280, 5/328.
Bowling: Jerome Taylor 8-1-64-0, Jason Holder 10-2-104-1, Andre Russell 9-0-74-2, Marlon Samuels 2-0-14-0, Sulieman Benn 10-0-79-0, Darren Sammy 7-0-50-0, Chris Gayle 4-0-21-2.
West Indies: Dwayne Smith c Miller b Tahir 31, Chris Gayle b Abbott 3, Marlon Samuels c De Kock b Abbott 0, Jonathan Carter c De Villiers b Morkel 10, Denesh Ramdin b Tahir 22, Lendl Simmons lbw b Tahir 0, Darren Sammy st De Kock b Tahir 5, Andre Russell c Abbott b Tahir 0, Jason Holder c Amla b Steyn 56, Jerome Taylor n o 15, Sulieman Benn c Amla b Morkel 1, Extras: (lb-5, w-3) 8, Total: (all out in 33.1 overs) 151.
Fall: 1-12, 2-16, 3-52, 4-52, 5-53, 6-63, 7-63, 8-108, 9-150.
Bowling: Dale Steyn 7-0-24-1, Kyle Abbott 8-0-37-2, Morne Morkel 5.1-0-23-2, Imran Tahir 10-2-45-5, Faf du Plessis 3-0-17-0.
