World Cup 2007
Competing in the 2007 Cricket World Cup he was in career best form in ODIs having scored four 50s during the South Africa vs India/Pakistan (2007) matches.
In the early stages of the tournament his form was poor with three failures including a duck against the Netherlands in a match where his team broke various records for batting. His talent was shown by a 92 in the first round against Australia which was scored in a high-pressure situation. Indeed it was around the time De Villiers got out (run out from the boundary by Shane Watson) when South Africa lost their rhythm and went on to lose the game.
His highest innings to date in ODIs came in the Super 8 game against West Indies on 10 April 2007. He made his maiden ODI hundred, 146 from just 130 balls including 5 sixes and 12 fours. This was despite batting with a runner for the latter stages of his innings and seemingly finding every shot painful due to a combination of cramps, heat exhaustion and dehydration. His innings consisted of a second wicket partnership of 170 with Jacques Kallis and a third wicket partnership of 70 with Herschelle Gibbs the latter of which was dominated by De Villiers batting on one leg. De Villiers' innings helped set up a total of 356/4 from 50 overs.
His batting during the world cup was thus at the peaks of both sides since he had also failed to score on 4 occasions, a record in and of itself[6]
2008[edit]
On 4 April 2008 he became the first South African to score a double century against India with his top score of 214*.
De Villiers scored an obdurate 174 that helped set up a ten-wicket win for South Africa in the second Test against England at Headingley Carnegie in Leeds in July 2008. This was followed by a 97 at The Oval before he came down the wicket trying to smash Panesar for a boundary and was clean bowled.
Tour of Australia 2008/09
In the first Test in Perth, De Villiers scored a matchwinning century to help South Africa chase down the second highest ever fourth innings target of 414 with six wickets in hand. This was South Africa's first Test victory in Australia in 15 years and appeared to go a long way towards tilting world cricket's balance of power after over a decade of Australian dominance. De Villiers also took four diving catches in the course of the match, including one to dismiss Jason Krejza, a stunner at backward point.[7]
De Villiers only scored 11 runs though in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and made another low score in the first innings of the final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In the second innings of that Test though, De Villiers scored a patient half-century as South Africa almost held on for an against-the-odds draw.[8]
In the 4th ODI in Adelaide he played as wicketkeeper after Boucher was ruled out. He then scored 82 not out from 85 balls with 6 fours and a six to win the series and was named man of the match.
Return Series, Johannesburg 2009
In the first Test at the Wanderers Stadium, De Villiers provided lone resistance in the first innings against a bowling attack led by pace bowler, Mitchell Johnson, scoring 104* of 185 balls with 9 fours and 1 six, whilst his teammates all fell for under 50. But in the second innings he made only 3 of 7.
In the third test, after centuries from Ashwell Prince and Jacques Kallis, De Villiers became the third centurion of the innings with a score of 163 off 196 balls with 12 fours and 7 sixes. This knock also tied the record of most sixes in an over as De Villiers, off a McDonald over, hit four consecutive sixes.
In the following 5 game ODI series, De Villiers played consistently, although starting badly in the first game, scoring only 2 runs. However, he went on to make 36*, 80, 84, and 38, and was named Player of the Series at the conclusion of game 5.
Series against Zimbabwe October 2010[edit]
He was rested for the two-match Twenty20 series against Zimbabwe and because Mark Boucher was injured as well Heino Kuhn donned the keeping gloves. De Villiers returned for the ODI series and also took over the gloves while Mark Boucher was recovering. He did well against Zimbabwe scoring two centuries out of the three ODIs as South Africa comfortably won the three match series 3–0.
Against Pakistan in October 2010[edit]
His major challenge came against Pakistan for the two Twenty20 matches, where he kept wicket. In the first match he was out for a second-ball duck off a superb delivery by Shoaib Akhtar. In the second T20I he scored 11 runs. He then participated in the five-match ODI series where South Africa were chasing 203 to win and he scored 51 before he was caught and bowled by Saeed Ajmal. In the second ODI he scored 29 as he was bowled by Shahid Afridi; in the same match a flamboyant Abdul Razzaq played the greatest innings of his life to lift Pakistan to an unbelievable victory. During the third match he scored 19 before he was stumped by Zulqarnain Haider. It turned out to be a mistake by the umpire as he had pressed the wrong button. In the fourth match he missed out on a half-century while on 49 when he gave his wicket to the fielder at point. His good form in the series continued when he scored 61 in the final ODI as South Africa won by 57 runs and the series 3–2.
Indian Premier League
In the fourth season of Indian Premier League, he was contracted by Royal Challengers Bangalore for US$1.1 million. He played for the Delhi Daredevils in the previous seasons.
ICC World Cup 2011
AB de Villiers scored two successive centuries in the 2011 World Cup. He became the first South African to score two centuries in a single World Cup and the fifth batsman after Mark Waugh, Saeed Anwar, Rahul Dravid and Matthew Haydento score two consecutive centuries in a single World Cup tournament. He also became the 16th batsman to score two or more centuries in one World Cup tournament. AB de Villiers' strike rate of 136.73 is the highest among South African batsmen who have scored centuries in World Cup matches. With his third player of the match award in World Cups, de Villiers is joint second with Jacques Kallis on the list of South African players with most match awards in World Cups. Lance Klusener heads the list with five awards.
2011–12[edit]
In the 2011–12 South African summer, de Villiers featured in the home series against Australia and against Sri Lanka. In the latter, he scored a century (160 not out) in South Africa's win in the third and deciding Test of the series. He was named the "Player of the Series", having scored 353 runs at an average of 117.66.[9] He then led South Africa for his first series since being appointed captain of the One Day International team. In his first match as captain, South Africa inflicted the heaviest defeat in Sri Lanka's history, with a 258-run win in Paarl on 11 January 2012.[10] It was also the largest margin of victory (by runs) in an ODI match between two Test-playing teams.[11] South Africa went on to win the ODI series, and De Villiers was named player of the series, having scored 329 runs at an average of 109.66,[12] including a century (125 not out) in the fifth and final match in Johannesburg.[13] On 10 July, De Villiers was handed full-time wicketkeeping duties after Mark Boucher announced retirement from cricket after suffering eye injuries from a hit from a bail the day before.
2013[edit]
On 4 February 2013, at the end of the Proteas' first test match against Pakistan, played at the Wanderers, the big electronic scoreboard displayed:
- "AB de VILLIERS now equals the world record for the most dismissals in a Test match (11 dismissals) Currently held by RC Russell Eng v SA Jhb 95/96"[14]
He also scored an unbeaten 103 off 117 balls in South Africa's second innings. In the process, he became the first wicketkeeper to score a century and claim 10 dismissals in a Test.[15]
On 18 March, during the third ODI match of Pakistan's tour of South Africa at Johannesburg, De Villiers and Hashim Amlashared the record for the highest third wicket partnership in an ODI when they scored 238. De Villiers scored 12 fours and 3 sixes, and a total of 128.
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