DeVilliers delivers for the South Africans
January 26th 2009 22:43
After his heroics in Perth in the first Test match of the Australian summer, AB DeVilliers has finally rediscovered his potency with the bat after he helped steer South Africa to a series clinching third victory against Australia last night.
De Villiers smashed an unbeaten 82 from 85 balls while Amla was 80 not out as the pair put on a 144-run partnership to help steer the Proteas to their target of 223 with almost 12 overs to spare.
De Villiers and Hashim Amla forged what proved to be the winning partnership by picking up plenty of singles and twos.
They then played with more flair with a mid-innings power play sparking a more aggressive approach.
The duo rarely strayed from the orthodox as time was on their side and the ever-decreasing run-rate ensured life out in the middle remained low key.
Amla was the first to bring up his fifty in 70 balls, including four fours, while De Villiers passed the mark with a six over mid-wicket.
The pair continued to punish Australia's attack and De Villiers, who won the man-of-the-match award, brought up the winning run with a leg-glance.
Indeed both DeVilliers and Amla were in need of big scores after experiencing lean form with the bat so far this summer.
DeVilliers would have been favoured to make a substantial amount of runs against the Australians, considering he played a fine knock in the first Test match at the Waca not so long ago.
However, the 24 year old batsmen experienced a decline in his form and confidence, which culminated in an injured hip while facing Shaun Tait in the Twenty20 matches a couple of weeks ago.
Thankfully for DeVillers, he has rediscovered his touch and it allowed the South Africans to post an easy victory against the Australians at the Adelaide Oval.
Having already clinched the Test and One Day series, the Proteas now head to Perth with a batting line-up that looks ominous, considering all of their players are now in form.
With the series all but wrapped up, one can only imagine what DeVillers can produce in a One Dayer that is literally a dead rubber.
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