SK Flashback: When AB de Villiers smashed the fastest century of all-time
Exactly two years ago, AB de Villiers etched his name in the record books by smashing the fastest ODI century of all-time. Not only in the 50-overs format, his jaw-dropping knock also remains the quickest hundred across all three forms of the international game.
| Batsman | Opponent | Total runs | Balls taken to reach 100 | Venue | Year |
| AB de Villiers | West Indies | 149 | 31 | Johannesburg | 2015 |
| Corey Anderson | West Indies | 131* | 36 | Queenstown | 2014 |
| Shahid Afridi | Sri Lanka | 102 | 37 | Nairobi | 1996 |
| Mark Boucher | Zimbabwe | 147* | 44 | Potchefstroom | 2006 |
| Brian Lara | Bangladesh | 117 | 45 | Dhaka | 1999 |
| Shahid Afridi | India | 102 | 45 | Kanpur | 2005 |
| Richard Levi (**T20I) | New Zealand | 117* | 45 | Hamilton | 2012 |
It all happened on the 18th of January 2015 at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. In the second ODI of the five-match series, a struggling West Indies side were swept aside by AB de Villiers and the powerful South African batting lineup. Here’s how the events of the day unfolded.
(**Note: Apart from Richard Levi’s century which came in a T20I, all other entries in the list came in ODIs.)
#5 Hashim Amla and Rilee Rossouw set the platform
The stadium was decked in pink in support of breast cancer awareness. Though South Africa were without their natural dark green jersey, there would be no shortage of their typical firepower on a pitch designed for rapid scoring. Visiting skipper Jason Holder won the toss and surprisingly opted to field first.
Openers Hashim Amla and Rilee Rossouw began rather cautiously (in comparison to what was to follow) to set the platform for the dynamic middle-order batsmen. The first 8 overs produced only 40 runs but the duo were just getting themselves in. Soon, they imposed themselves on the game by building a monstrous 247-run partnership.
Though the southpaw departed for a well-made 115-ball 128, the men from the Caribbean would have thought that a wicket might offer them some respite. However, it was not to be.