Absolutely Brilliant: De Villiers leads SA to World Championship of Legends title

The SA captain scored his third century of the tournament and also ended as the competition's leading run-scorer.


Former Proteas captain AB de Villiers scored a stunning 120 not out off 60 balls to lead the South African ‘champions’ team to victory in the World Championship of Legends final in Birmingham, England on Saturday.

De Villiers and his team beat the Pakistan champions team of Mohammed Hafeez by nine wickets with 19 balls remaining to lift the trophy at the tournament for the first time.

The SA team’s captain’s score of 120 was his third century in four matches at the tournament. He ended as the competition’s leading run scorer with 429 runs.

De Villiers’ other big scores at the tournament were 63, 116, and 123.

De Villiers was given something of a life halfway through his innings when he was “caught” in the deep, but a TMO over-ruled the decision, deciding the ball had bounced before the batter was “caught”.

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Pakistan scored 195/5 runs in their 20 overs.

Sharjeel Khan, who scored 76 off 44 balls, was Pakistan’s best batter, while Hardus Viljoen and Wayne Parnell got two wickets each for South Africa.

Besides De Villiers, JP Duminy (50 not out off 28 balls) also scored well for the South Africans and ensured there were no late jitters.

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Proteas cricket team