JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, CMC – AB de Villiers struck the fastest ever one-day hundred and led three other batsmen in triple figures as South Africa inflicted a severe 148-run drubbing on West Indies in the second One-Day International here yesterday.
Opting to bat first, the Proteas ruthlessly pounded the Windies bowling to amass 439 for two off their 50 overs, with opener Hashim Amla (153 not out), captain AB de Villiers (149) and Rilee Roussouw (128) all compiling centuries.
The total was a record for South Africa, narrowly surpassing their 438 against Australia in 2006, and was just four short of the world record of 443 set by Sri Lanka against Holland also nine years ago.
De Villiers grabbed the opportunity to also rewrite the record books, racing to a phenomenal hundred off a mere 31 deliveries to eclipse the old mark set by New Zealander Corey Anderson who reached his landmark off 36 balls, also against West Indies last year.
Requiring to score at nearly nine and over, West Indies were never really in contention when they chased, especially after big-hitting talisman Chris Gayle fell cheaply for 19 with the score on 36 for one in the fifth over of the innings.
His partner Dwayne Smith top scored with 64, wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin hit 57 while Marlon Samuels and Jonathan Carter both struck 40.
Darren Sammy chipped in with an unbeaten 25 down the order and captain Jason Holder, 21 not out, with the match long gone.
Seamers Morne Morkel, with two for 43, and Vernon Philander, two for 69, finished with two wickets apiece.
Amla and Rossouw took command of the game for South Africa with a record opening stand of 247, as West Indies leaked runs at five an over through the first 20 overs.
The right-handed Amla faced 142 balls and hit 14 fours in compiling his 18th ODI hundred while Rossouw counted 11 fours and two sixes in a 115-ball knock, that brought him his maiden one-day century.
Even then, their stand never hinted at a total beyond 400 as South Africa eased to 142 without loss at the half-way point of the innings.
The left-handed Rossouw, 25, was the first to his hundred with a single to deep mid-wicket off the last ball of the 34th over bowled by seamer Andre Russell, also raising the 200-run mark.
Amla followed him three balls later in the next over from Dwayne Smith, carving the slow medium bowler to backward point for four.
Rossouw was really raising the tempo of the innings when he punched a Jerome Taylor half volley to Sulieman Benn at mid-off in the 39th.
Any hopes of a further breakthrough were quickly erased as de Villiers set about the Windies attack with relish, posting 192 for the second wicket with Amla.
De Villiers smashed Russell for two four and two sixes in the 40th over which cost 22 runs and ripped into Holder in seamer’s eighth, the 42nd of the innings, which cost 24 runs and included three successive sixes and a four.
The over lifted de Villiers to his half-century off 16 balls and pushed South Africa beyond the 300-run mark.
Remarkably, he needed only a mere 15 balls more to complete his hundred, the landmark coming in Holder’s ninth over which cost 23 runs, as the Proteas plundered an incredible 163 runs from the last ten overs.
Smith and Gayle then started brightly, gathering 36 for the first wicket at close to the required run rate. Gayle seemed to be warming up when he lifted Philander for four to long on and then cleared the ropes in the same area off successive deliveries in the fourth over.
However, he holed out in the deep off Morkel in the next over and the Windies were further set back when left-hander Leon Johnson struggled 15 balls over one in adding 27 with Smith, before falling lbw to Philander in the tenth over.
West Indies then flourished through two half-century stands. Firstly, Smith put on 59 for the third wicket with Samuels who faced 48 balls and struck three fours and a six.
Smith, who consumed 65 balls and hammered nine fours and a six, played freely before finding JP Duminy running around from long off, as he tried to clear the boundary with seamer Farhaan Behardien in the 22nd over.
Three overs later, Samuels drove Philander for Behardien at cover to take a leaping catch, paving the way for an enterprising 83-run stand between Ramdin and Carter.
Ramdin fashioned only his sixth one-day half-century off 55 balls, cracking four fours and a six while Carter, in only his second ODI, played bravely with three fours and a six in a 39-ball knock.
They were separated when Carter tried to pull one from fast bowler Dale Steyn and was caught at mid-on by substitute Wayne Parnell in the 37th over to leave the Windies on 231 for five.
And any hopes of a miracle disappeared two balls later in the next over when Russell found the lap of deep midwicket with leg-spinner Imran Tahir’s long hop, to depart without scoring of the first ball faced.
