South Africa vs India 2018: Reliving AB de Villiers' heroics in all 5 Pink ODIs thus far
When Abraham Benjamin de Villiers bats, he makes the world sit up and applaud the brilliance he produces each time. The world totally is in awe of the South African batsman every time he takes field as he can virtually do everything possible on a cricket field.
AB de Villiers is arguably one of the best batsman of the modern era. His ability to change his game (style of play) according to the situation is simply brilliant. He can change the course of a game in the span of a few deliveries, he can also put his head down and play the sheet anchor’s role.
South Africa have really missed their talisman batsman in the first three ODIs in the ongoing series against India. However, they will be bolstered by his return in the 4th ODI which will take place at the Bullring in Johannesburg (Wanderers). Johannesburg is also de Villiers’ happy hunting ground. In 10 innings, he’s played at the New Wanderers Stadium, he has scored 706 runs at an average of 100.86 and a strike-rate of 129.30. He has 3 hundreds and 3 fifties at this venue.
Also, it will be a ‘Pink ODI’ celebrating the Pink Day. This is a game where the South African team will be dressed in Pink rather than their Green jerseys. The Pink Day is celebrated in order to raise funds for cancer patients across the country.
Not only does de Villiers’ enjoy playing at the Wanderers, he has a special connection with the Pink ODIs as well. He’s done exceedingly well almost every time in the Pink ODIs. Thus, let’s take a look back at his knocks in all five ODIs in the Pink Jersey thus far.
#5 128 vs Pakistan – March 2013
After being whitewashed in the Test series, Pakistan bounced back to win the 2-match T20I series 1-0. The 5-match series was level at 1-1 when the teams moved to Johannesburg for the third ODI. AB de Villiers had started the ODI series well with a fluent 65 but failed in the second game.
Pakistan won the toss and opted to field first and put pressure on the South African batsmen right from the start. The first 10 overs yielded only 26 runs. And in the 14th over, de Villiers walked in to bat at 42/2. As soon as he walked in he changed the tempo of the innings. He started rotating the strike with ease and Hashim Amla who struggled a bit in the early part of his innings fed off de Villiers’ confidence. The duo put on 238 runs for the third wicket in about 33 overs.
AB de Villiers was the chief aggressor of the innings as he stroked a superb 128 in just 108 deliveries (which included 12 fours and 3 sixes). He was his usual self as he drove the ball well through the covers and down the ground, used the crease to great effect shuffling around and scooping the ball over fine leg, slashing over point and third-man and slog-sweeping over mid-wicket. His innings of 128 along with Amla’s 122 helped the Proteas reach 343 and eventually win the game.