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| April 12, 2007 | Thursday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 23, 1428 |
De Villiers is okay as SA eye semis
ST GEORGE’S, April 11: A.B. de Villiers earned his Man-of-the-Match award against West Indies the hard way. He smashed 146 runs in 30-degree sunshine, suffered cramps and dehydration, hit six sixes on one leg and then had to be put on a drip before still managing to take the field where he held a catch in his team's 67-run victory.
Despite such heroics, the 23-year-old de Villiers avoided talking up his contribution.
“It's a very special day for me and I enjoyed every second of it,” said the blond opener after hitting his maiden one-day century.
“I had a tough time out there. It started when I was on 40 but I'm OK now and luckily got through it to get to my hundred.
“It's important for an opener to be tight up front but still play the game and that's what the coach asked us to do.”
South Africa captain Graeme Smith was relieved with a win which came just four days after a humiliating defeat to Bangladesh in Guyana, a venue where the team never settled amongst accusations of suffering from cabin fever.
“The two points are crucial but I liked the way we played, with lots of energy, passion and freedom,” said the skipper.
“It's been a tough few days building up to the game having played so badly in Guyana but all credit to the boys.
“We managed to play our natural game under pressure and I guess that's what it's all about, so we're happy.
“To get 356 was a superb total. We had the game won pretty early and it was about finishing it off at the end.”—AFP
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