AB: The defining moments

The record-breaker, part one
149 v West Indies, Johannesburg, 18 January 2015

Fifty-nine minutes. That’s all it took for AB de Villiers to smash, shuffle, and scoop his way to 149 against West Indies. That’s shorter than your average episode of Game of Thrones, with AB in greater mood for mayhem than Joffrey Baratheon on a bad day. While South Africa’s 247-run opening partnership was in progress – Rilee Rossouw and Hashim Amla both made centuries – AB suggested several times that David Miller go in ahead of him. South Africa’s head coach Russell Domingo refused, and with good reason, as AB broke the records for the fastest ODI fifty and 100, bringing up those landmarks off 16 and 31 balls respectively. He would fall one run short of breaking the record for the fastest 150, but that was a record that would soon be his as well.

The record-breaker, part two
162* v West Indies, Sydney, 27 February 2015

Just six weeks after his previous masterclass, AB de Villiers delivered a spookily similar sequel. Again, the opponents were West Indies, again Hashim Amla and Rilee Rossouw supported him well, and again he was utterly brilliant. If he was slightly less destructive this time – he finished with a strike-rate of ‘just’ 245 rather than 339 – the innings made up for it by coming on the biggest stage, at a World Cup at which AB de Villiers would drag South Africa to the brink of a first-ever final appearance, only to be denied at the last by an inspired innings from New Zealand's Grant Elliott.

The highest high
278 v Pakistan, Abu Dhabi, 20-24 November 2010

When AB de Villiers showed he could go big as well as bash. Defying Pakistan in the Abu Dhabi heat for a minute over 10 hours, he recorded what was at the time South Africa’s highest Test score, setting up a huge total that gave his side a share of the series. He owed Morne Morkel a debt of thanks; the No.11, who also retired recently, made 35 in an unbroken tenth-wicket partnership of 107 which helped de Villiers break Graeme Smith’s previous record by a run before Smith, captain that day, called him in.

SupermanV Australia, Port Elizabeth, 5 March 2006

A piece of magic that almost defies description. On 49, Simon Katich drove firmly to the left of extra cover, and assuming the ball would beat the fielder, or at least necessitate a dive, set off for a single which he thought would bring him safely to a half-century. That reckoned without the fielder in question being AB de Villiers, who swooped, and threw the ball even while still rolling, nailing the one stump he had to aim at direct and catching Katich short.

The blockathon33 v Australia, Adelaide, 22-26 November 2012

A heroic backs-to-the-wall effort that showed off de Villiers’ often-unheralded near-perfect defensive technique. South Africa entered the last day of the second Test four wickets down and the target notional. Defying type, AB de Villiers dead-batted away for more than four hours and 220 boundary-less balls. He left with just 33 to his name, each run priceless. The very next game, as if to allay fears that the free-spirited AB had been subdued, he smashed a characteristic 184-ball 169 to help the Proteas claim a series-sealing victory.

SpidermanRoyal Challengers Bangalore v Sunrisers Hyderabad, Bangalord, 17 May 2018

Even for a player with screamers galore in his highlights reel, this was something else. Stationed at the deep-midwicket boundary, a slog from Alex Hales spiralled, swirling away at the last second, something that would have done for most fielders. Instead AB de Villiers, already in mid-air, stuck a hand out and plucked it from the ether. Was it super-human? Virat Kohli thought so: "That was Spiderman stuff! You don't do that as normal human beings. I thought it was going for a six, but he pulls it out, then the jump and then the balance. I mean, he can do freakish things, but I am used to it now. His shots still leave me in awe but his fielding I am pretty used to and that was fun to watch."

Just missing out
103 v India, Johannesburg, 18-22 December 2013

Another innings where AB de Villiers played the situation to perfection. India seemed to have finally taken the upper-hand in an epic Test match, largely thanks to Virat Kohli who’d struck a brilliant first innings hundred and followed up with 96 in the second. When AB came to the crease South Africa were four down and less than halfway to their 458-run target but he reprised his partnership with Faf du Plessis to almost pull off a stunning victory. De Villiers was the aggressor, facing 168 balls for his 103, and though he and du Plessis couldn’t quite steal the win, South Africa instead opting for safety when their seventh wicket fell, this still ranks as one of his greatest moments.

Tearing it up with Kohli129* v Gujarat Lions, Bangalore, 14 May 2016

Some of AB's best performances have come not for South Africa, but in the IPL, and especially in the red of Royal Challengers Bangalore, or on this occasion in lime-green, their second kit. Going toe-to-toe with the batsman some claim is his rival as the modern master, he and Virat Kohli spurred each other on in a mesmerising 229-run partnership, the highest in all T20 cricket, beating their own mark set a season prior. Records tumbled all around as the screams of the home crowd provided the soundtrack to a fireworks display.

Focused and determined
106* v Australia, Perth, 17-21 December 2008

Another of those adaptable innings in which de Villiers put the tricks in the box and made sure he got the job done. Just 36 of his 106 runs came in boundaries as AB nudged and nurdled South Africa to the highest chase in their Test history. This was no time for recklessness – he meant business, and remained unbeaten as South Africa secured a 1-0 lead. They would go on to win the series, their first-ever victory in Australia.

The sign-off
126 v Australia, Port Elizabeth, 9-12 March 2018

We didn’t know it at the time, but this would be the last time we’d see the best of AB on the biggest stage. On a surface where virtually all others struggled to score fluently, de Villiers scored at nearly a run a ball and batted masterfully with the tail to eke out a match-defining lead. It came at a crucial juncture too, with South Africa 1-0 down in the series, knowing a loss would extend a winless home streak against Australia which goes back to 1970. Instead, with what former South Africa captain Graeme Smith called “one of the best” hundreds he had seen, he engineered a turnaround which saw the Proteas finally break the hoodoo.