AB lauds mighty Hash
GREAT HUMAN BEING, I’M SO HAPPY FOR HIM
Proteas skipper AB de Villiers has hailed the “amazing” Hashim Amla after the Proteas opener set yet another batting record on Saturday when he became the fastest player in history to reach 25 ODI hundreds.
Amla’s latest masterpiece, in just his 151st ODI innings, was the mainstay of South Africa’s 299/6, a commanding total on an Oval wicket that proved too much for Sri Lanka’s batsmen to chase down.
“It was an amazing innings,” De Villiers said. “Hash did really well to assess the conditions, and communicated well with us what kind of score was going to be good. It was important for the first 10-15 overs not to lose too many wickets. There was quite a lot in that wicket early on, it was really tough to score.
“Both of them (Amla and opening partner Quinton de Kock) normally bat around a hundred strike rate without even trying.”
When De Kock departed in the 13th over South Africa were on just 44, but thereafter Amla and Faf du Plessis wrenched back control of the match. “Faf played exceptionally well coming in in that situation,” de Villiers added. “We were going at around just under three an over when he came in, so there was pressure. They did really well to shift it back on Sri Lanka.”
In terms of the number of innings required to reach the 25-century milestone, Amla is comfortably out on his own. To put his achievement in context: Virat Kohli, acknowledged as perhaps the complete ODI runmaker of the century, required 162 innings; Sachin Tendulkar 234, Ricky Ponting 279, and Kumar Sangakkara 379. Amla needed just 151.
His 103 from 115 balls, only ended with a run-out, contained five fours and two effortless sixes. He now boasts 51 international hundreds across Test and ODI formats. Moreover, he likes batting at The Oval: it was here in 2012 that he batted for two days to compile an unbeaten 311 in a Test match.
“He’s an amazing player and a great asset for us,” de Villiers said. “And not just on the field but off the field. He’s a great human being. I’m so very happy for him, all the runs he’s scoring.”
For all Amla’s serene brilliance, it was Imran Tahir who claimed the Man-of-the-Match award. A four-wicket intervention – including a superb googly in his first over to befuddle Chamara Kapugedera – plus a direct hit from mid-on to remove Suranga Lakmal, was enough to claim the award and in the process reassert his position as one of the champion ODI bowlers of his era. – ANA