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Comment: Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town – AB de Villiers has served notice, through weight of deed against pedigreed foe, that his recently-stated wish to become best batsman in the world may not be a fanciful one.
The 25-year-old Titans batsman indulged in an orgy of crowd-wowing stroke-play on day three of the third Test between South Africa and Australia at Newlands on Saturday, blitzing the visitors’ ego-dented bowlers to the tune of 163 runs -- top individual score in a generally juggernaut and record-breaking Proteas first innings total of 651.
His six-Test summer against the Aussies, with the possibility of one further innings to come (but I wouldn’t count on it), sports a nice, round-figure harvest: 600 runs precisely.
He is presently the leading run-scorer on either side over the course of the two series, although Simon Katich, 44 not out overnight in the Australian second innings and now on 547 runs himself, remains a realistic threat.
Less likely but not out of the question is Michael Clarke topping the table. He could yet do so with a big century but it is not on the cards considering that “Pup” has struggled far more on South African soil than he did Down Under and amassed only 94 runs in five innings here.
But De Villiers has given the Baggy Greens angst throughout 2008/09, as evidenced by his sequence of scores: 63 and 106 not out at Perth, seven in a lone knock at Melbourne, 11 and 56 at Sydney, 104 not out and three in Johannesburg, three and 84 at Durban and now his 163 here.
The latest century was his ninth in his 52 Tests and fourth above 150; a culture of truly heavy scoring is promisingly becoming almost second nature to him, it seems.
But this was his best effort against the Aussies and they could not have enjoyed his imperiousness on a high-octane day of Test cricket before 15 678 mostly approving (save for the small Aussie contingent, maybe) people.
He treated the sun-soaked audience to pretty much the full repertoire of his bruising strokes, although he was especially withering on the leg-side, which accounted for 104 of his runs on the wagon-wheel.
Ask poor Andrew McDonald: the supposed medium-pace “stopper” was taken apart in that area at the click of De Villiers’s fingers in one memorable over from the Kelvin End, when the batsman lashed him for four towering sixes.
They had come off the first four balls of the over, and De Villiers revealed at a press conference on Saturday evening that the possibility of having a crack at the prized “six sixes in an over” landmark did enter the picture.
“Yes, Albie (Morkel) approached me in mid-pitch after the third six and asked me if I (fancied) going for it.
“I said ‘sheesh Albs, this is Test cricket we’re playing here’ but then I got the fourth so the possibility was (still on) at that stage.”
The batsman eventually got only a single off the fifth delivery and Morkel, ironically, was then bowled by McDonald to end the over rather less disastrously.
There was a fair bit of “grind”, as De Villiers put it, as he went to three figures, but then he upped the tempo as all ambitious batsmen do once they have crossed that bridge – it took just 32 balls for him to progress to 150.
His innings strike rate was 83, and that certainly demonstrated that it was worth going through the turnstiles on day three.
De Villiers is clearly in excellent rhythm and confessed as much: “I’m in good form and making it count whenever I can.”
After averaging 60.75 against the Aussies on the away leg, his average on home soil stands at 89.25.
It is compelling stuff against the side who still, let’s not forget, hold the ICC Test Championship mace …
