When he could go after the bowlers at Newlands, AB de Villiers did; when he had to rein it in a bit, he did that too, and that was enough to push South Africa ahead in the game
Firdose Moonda in Cape Town04-Jan-2015We already know AB de Villiers steals eyes with his strokeplay, stops hearts with his fielding, and can switch gears at a rate that would worry most mechanics. But just as we always stop to capture the sun’s rays as it dips under the sea and smell the springtime garden after a shower, we remain captivated by a de Villiers’ century every time he conjures one up.”The man is a master,” Richie Richardson, West Indies’ team manager, said. “Even though we like to see him bat, we don’t want him at the crease for too long.”Perhaps Marlon Samuels does.His first delivery to de Villiers seemed the final toss on a trail of litter left behind. He dished up his third full toss in as many balls and de Villiers treated it with the disdain it deserved. He swung dismissively to send Samuels and his pride sailing over midwicket and signal South Africa’s attempt to end this match early.De Villiers played along with the conservative batting tactics on the second day and faced 51 balls for his 31 runs but decided against it on the third. His next 19 runs came off 19 balls as it became obvious he did not want to hang around. When de Villiers wants to get moving, he shows it. He fiddles through his feet. Like a goalkeeper waiting for a penalty to be taken or a boxer sussing out his opponent, de Villiers shifts his weight, runs on the spot and seems to makes false starts but always follows through.That was what he was doing in the morning, when he hurried Hashim Amla into taking a single, tested the point fielder with an aerial drive, and chased a half volley but didn’t get enough meat on it. But de Villiers was only willing to take calculated risks like those ones when a batsman of the experience and aura of Amla was at the end the other end.As soon as the captain was dismissed, a newcomer Temba Bavuma, was at the crease and the new ball was lurking, de Villiers reined it in to help the youngster settle against an improving Holder. He greeted Bavuma with movement that jagged of the seam, kissed the outside edge and then just flirted with it. Even de Villiers had to be wary and he quietened down while keeping watch. His next 22 runs came off 39 balls as he saw off the second new ball and rebuilt with Stiaan van Zyl. All the edginess of the first hour disappeared as the focus shifted to grinding out until there was an opportunity to get on top.AB de Villiers: ‘From 120 to 148 I felt pretty comfortable. Before that, my hundred was hard work. The bowler was always in the game’•Associated PressOnly after van Zyl has negotiated the second new ball – and that he did it so well augurs well for a possible move up the order for him in future – did de Villiers open up again, throwing himself at a wide Jerome Taylor delivery and shuffling the feet in that signature style which suggested it was time to get going. He was helped by Denesh Ramdin’s decision to use spinners early on with the second new ball, which broke the pressure being applied by the seamers.By then, de Villiers was in the late 80s and picking up speed. He only needed one over to convert that to a century, taking 16 runs off a Samuel over, which included two reverse-sweeps that went for four. “It was a part-time spinner bowling to me,” de Villiers said with a chuckle. “You’ve got to take your chances.”In that passage of play, de Villiers and van Zyl added runs at the fastest rate South Africa had throughout their innings, scoring at a shave under four and half to the over. After “counting down the deficit”, they took South Africa into the lead and it was that partnership that de Villiers hoped would balloon. “It’s easier when you have a partner who feels in. The moment a wicket falls, you have start again,” de Villiers said. “When you have a set partnership, that’s when the runs come.”But, like all the other stands in this match, it did not manage to reach a century and when it gave way, South Africa’s tail was exposed for the first time this series, this time by one of their own. De Villiers found the speed he was happy with and there was no slowing him down even when Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn joined him.The hustle was back again. De Villiers tried to sneak one past midwicket but Philander was not quick enough for Holder, then he called Steyn through for one to cover but Leon Johnson had the ground covered. All that while de Villiers was adding to his own tally and the runs he scored then were the ones that he found came easiest.”From 120 to 148 I felt pretty comfortable. Before that, my hundred was hard work. The bowler was always in the game,” he said. Eventually even the part-time bowler was in it too.De Villiers holed out to Samuels in an effort to accelerate and ended the innings with South Africa short of the lead they wanted. That meant de Villiers was less pleased with his innings than he should have been and more concerned about the overall situation. “I would have liked us to get some more runs towards the end.”But as he left the ground to chants of “AB, AB, AB…” from the fans who remained behind well after stumps, he should have known that the 148 he contributed were enough for some.