On this day: AB de Villiers smashed the fastest ODI century in 2015

do you remember nine years ago on this day when South African star batter AB de Villiers smashed the fastest ODI century on the surface of Johannesburg?

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It has been six years since globally loved batter AB de Villiers played his last international game after that we all want to see him in action but that is impossible until and unless he comes back from his retirement. We may can’t see him in the field but we can remember him by his entertaining and mesmerizing innings. He has played many great innings and destroyed almost every great bowler and team of his era but in 2015 he trampled West Indies with his extraordinary batting and smashed the fastest ODI century at the ground of Johannesburg. 

AB de Villers was a vulnerable batter he could adapt to any format of ground and pitches, he can bat at a strike-rate of 300 in T20Is and he can also bat at a strike-rate of 30 in the test. If he was batting at his peak he only could get out from his own mistake otherwise there wasn’t any bowler who could dismiss him when he was in peak form. In 2015 he was at that kind of form when almost every bowler didn’t want to bowl in front of him, he has played many destructive innings in that period but there was an inning that truly defined his destruction level. It was the same date as today when AB took over the West Indies. He broke the record of the fastest ODI century of Kiwi batter Corey Anderson in 36 balls by reaching the milestone in just 31 balls. 

The fastest ODI century

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In the second ODI between West Indies vs South Africa which was played on 18th January 2015 at Johannesburg, West Indies won the toss and invited Proteas to bat in the first place and South African openers proved them wrong by adding 247 runs for the first wicket in 38.3 overs. Rilee Rossouw’s wicket became the reason for what we’ve witnessed on that day. Rossouw scored 128 runs before getting out and after him, skipper AB de Villiers entered the field. Firstly he completed the fastest ODI fifty in just 16 balls and then he started giving nightmares to the Caribbean bowlers. Along side with Hasim amla was anchoring the inning. In the fifth ball of the 45th over AB de Villiers smashed a six over square leg to the West Indies captain Jason Holder which made him the fastest international centurion in 31 balls across every format. The whole crowd was on their feet and they couldn’t believe what had happened there. 

AB did not stop there he continued his fireworks from the field. When AB got dismissed in the fourth ball of the last over he scored 149 runs in just 44 balls with 16 skyscrapers at every corner of the ground and nine boundaries, he played with a strike rate of 338.63 in that inning which is the highest strike rate in a century inning. His partner Hasim Amla got back to the pavilion unbeaten by scoring 153 runs in 142 balls with 145 boundaries. With all three centuries, South Africa scored their highest ODI total which was 439/2. In reply West Indies was only able to score 291 runs in 50 overs and lost the game by 148 runs.

This inning of AB de Villiers will always come at the top when he will be remembered. He is one of the greatest batters of all time but like other great players, he also did not get everything he wanted. He never won an ICC trophy which he always wished for.