De Villiers sends West Indies out of the park

Photo: AFP

AB De Villiers made a mockery of the West Indian bowling as he slammed a massive innings of 162 runs in just 66 balls and set South Africa the platform for an easy win. West Indies simply had no clue whatsoever as the talismanic South African absolutely smashed their bowlers out of the boundary line for number of occasions.

South Africa won the toss and decided to bat first. Despite losing Quinton De Kock early in the innings, South Africa made a slow but steady start, thanks to Hashim Amla and Faf Du Plessis. The duo set up a second wicket partnership of 127 runs and set the perfect platform for the likes of De Villiers, Rossouw and Miller to come and exploit that. As Amla (65) and Du Plessis (62) got out, Rossouw and De Villiers took charge of the proceedings and set the ground on fire with some swashbuckling display of shot making. Rossouw scored 61 off just 39 balls and De Villiers ended up with 162 from 66 balls. South Africa set up a total of 405/8 as they scored 62 runs off the last 14 deliveries. For west Indies Chris Gayle and Andre Russell picked up couple of wickets each while Jason Holder got the first wicket of De Kock towards the beginning of the innings.

With Chris Gayle in their side, each and every one expected West Indies to come out with all guns blazing. But just the opposite happened. The South African bowling unit became lively and had the West Indies team floored at 108/8. The Carribeans managed to get to 151 as Jason Holder scored a half century late in the innings. But it was too little too late. The match was well beyond their reach by that time Kyle Abbott and Morne Morkel bowled with great intensity upfront. Imran Tahir once again had a great day in the middle as he picked up 5 wickets in his 10 overs giving away just 45 runs.

However the highlight of the day was De Villiers’s breathtaking innings of 162 runs which had 17 fours and 8 sixes in it. If Chris Gayle had shown what he can do when he gets in few days back, Today de Villiers showed how devastating he can be. It was a lifetime experience to watch players like De Villiers, Chris Gayle and many other batting at their best. And this world cup has already seen those two. Perhaps many more are yet to come but all that can be said is these two innings have set the tone for the rest of the world cup.

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About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.