JOHANNESBURG - AB de Villiers hit the fastest century in one-day international history as South Africa overwhelmed the West Indies in the second one-day international at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday. De Villiers raced to his century off 31 balls - five balls fewer than the previous record - on the way to an astonishing 149 off 44 balls.
With opening batsmen Hashim Amla and Rilee Rossouw also hitting centuries in a South African record first wicket stand, South Africa piled up a massive 439 for two. The West Indies were never likely to chase down a world record target but managed a respectable 291 for seven to give South Africa a 148-run win and a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
The target was never likely to be within the reach of the West Indies, especially after big-hitting Chris Gayle was caught at deep midwicket off Morne Morkel for 19 in the fifth over. Dwayne Smith, caught off a Morkel no-ball in the first over when he had four, made 64 off 65 balls and Denesh Ramdin contributed 57 off 55 deliveries.
Amla (153 not out) and Rossouw (128) put on 247 for the first wicket - a record partnership for any wicket for South Africa. Rossouw was dismissed off the third ball of the 39th over. De Villiers promoted himself to number three and struck the ball out of the middle of his bat from the first delivery he faced, which he thrashed for four past bowler Jerome Taylor.
He went to fifty off 16 balls, one fewer than Sanath Jayasuriya’s previous record for the fastest half-century, for Sri Lanka against Pakistan in 1995/96, then powered his way past Corey Anderson’s record for the fastest century. He took five balls fewer than Anderson’s hundred for New Zealand against the West Indies in 2013/14. The South African captain’s innings included 16 sixes, equalling the world record set by Rohit Sharma when he hit 209 for India against Australia in Bangalore in 2013/14.
He also hit nine fours in an innings which had a near-capacity crowd at the Wanderers ?bullring? roaring in approval. West Indian players rushed to congratulate him and Gayle, who played a match-winning Twenty20 innings at the Wanderers a week earlier, bowed in salute as De Villiers walked past him. South Africa went past their own previous highest total - the 438 for nine they scored in a record run chase against Australia on the same ground in 2005/06 - and Sri Lanka’s world record of 443 for nine against the Netherlands in 2006 seemed set to fall.
But De Villiers hit the fourth ball of the final over from Andre Russell to deep cover and Amla could not score off the final two deliveries. Amla’s 153 not out was scored off 142 balls with 14 fours, while Rossouw hit his 128 off 115 balls with 11 fours and two sixes. It was a maiden century for the left-handed Rossouw, who had the dubious distinction of having made five ducks in his previous ten one-day international innings.
De Villiers said: “Lots of credit to Rilee and Hash up front, it allowed myself to free up. It was always going to be a lot of aggressive batting around Hash. He’s a world class batsman, he’s making it look easy and taking the pressure off us. I had a lot of time to warm up in the changing room, thinking about how I was playing. I actually wanted David Miller to go in but Russell made a great call, he told me to go in. I played my knock even before I came out to bat, I really wanted to go today. I was on 92 when I knew the record was close and I wasn’t going to take singles!”
Windies captain Holder said it was a tough game and AB took it away from them.” We weren’t doing too badly in the middle overs but he took it away from us. I thought we could have nailed our yorkers better. A lot of the seniors guys have helped me out these that two games and we can move forward.
 It was commendable the way Sulieman bowled today, hats off to him. Credit to the two guys who did well with the bat, that’s something to work with. We just need to put this behind us.”

Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA:
H Amla not out    153
R Rossouw c Benn b Taylor    128
A de Villiers c Carter b Russell    149
D Miller not out    0
EXTRAS: (lb4, nb1, w4)    9
TOTAL: (2 wkts, 50 overs)    439
FOW: 1-247, 2-439
BOWLING: Taylor 10-0-95-1, Holder 9-0-91-0, Benn 10-0-49-0, Russell 10-0-78-1, Sammy 4-0-26-0, Samuels 3-0-28-0, Smith 4-0-68-0
WEST INDIES:
D Smith c Duminy b Behardien    64
C Gayle c Behardien b Morkel    19
L Johnson lbw b Philander    1
M Samuels c Behardien b Philander    40
D Ramdin c Du Plessis b Morkel    57
J Carter c sub b Steyn    40
A Russell c Du Plessis b Imran Tahir    0
D Sammy not out    25
J Holder not out    21
EXTRAS: (b4, lb8, nb2, w10)    24
TOTAL: (7 wkts, 50 overs)    291
FOW: 1-36, 2-63, 3-122, 4-148, 5-231, 6-232, 7-253
BOWLING: Morkel 10-0-43-2, Philander 10-0-69-2, Steyn 10-0-29-1, Duminy 4-0-39-0, Imran Tahir 10-0-60-1, Behardien 6-0-39-1
TOSS: West Indies
UMPIRES: Steve Davis (AUS), Adrian Holdstock (RSA),
TV UMPIRE: Sundaram Ravi (IND)
MATCH REFEREE: Chris Broad (ENG)

Reactions to AB’s innings

"Not the worst entertainment from     AB right now. Best in the world without a doubt."
Zimbabwe batsman Brendan Taylor

"Have to say @ABdeVilliers17 is the definition of a Cricketing Genius ... absolutely incredible... #31BallTon"
Former England captain Michael Vaughan

"Happy new year @ABdeVilliers17 well played mate"
Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi

"No one ever will beat @ABdeVilliers17 fastest ODI century in just 31 balls #crazyridiculous #genius"
Former Australia batsman Dean Jones

"AB de Villiers has scored 149 runs from 44 balls. That is as preposterous as his name. Remarkable performance!"
Former England footballer Gary Lineker

"I demand a DNA test of AB DeVilliers...this game is only for humans. #superhuman #WhatAPlayer"
Former India batsman Aakash Chopra

"Are we watching highlights ?! #ABDevilliers #superb #fastestEverything!"
Former Pakistan allrounder Azhar Mahmood

"44 balls for 149 runs!!! Unbelievable batting by the World's best batsman."
South African golfer Ernie Els

"SA to play the World Cup in pink after this display?"
Former New Zealand fast bowler Iain O'Brien

"Well played @ABdeVilliers17 unfortunately wasn't quite enough to get @KNCBcricket out of the record books for conceding highest ever total"
Netherlands batsman Tom Cooper

"World record fastest ODI century - Congrats @ABdeVilliers17!"
Former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock

"The term genius gets bandied around loosely in sport but @ABdeVilliers17 completely deserves that status."
Proteas spinner Robin Peterson

"Congratulations @ABdeVilliers17 for a world record fastest odi hundred. Awesome batting! Unbelievable!!!"
Former India captain Anil Kumble

"@ABdeVilliers17 this guy is a freak . Unbelievable"
Zimbabwe fast bowler Kyle Jarvis

"You don't often pray to get the bloke with 150 not out on strike when you're bowling! Well done AB, gentlemen and a class act #carnage"
Former England spinner Ashley Giles

"If ab faced as many balls as Amla he'd be on 450ish"
Australia fast bowler Ben Laughlin

Brutal stats of a genius innings

31 Balls in which AB de Villiers got to his hundred, a world record. The previous record was held by Corey Anderson who scored a 36-ball hundred against West Indies in Queenstown in 2014.

16 Balls in which De Villiers got to his fifty, another world record. The previous record was held by Sanath Jayasuriya, who scored 50 of 17 balls against Pakistan in 1996.

16 Number of sixes hit by De Villiers, equaling the world record for the most sixes in an ODI innings, by Rohit Sharma during his innings of 209 against Australia in 2013.

17.2 The partnership run rate during the 192-run stand, off 67 balls, between Amla and de Villiers. This is the highest run rate for a 100-plus partnership against any Test playing nation.

2 Number of times that de Villiers has scored a hundred after coming in to bat after the 30th over. He came in to bat in the 39th over in this game. The previous occasion was when he scored a century after coming in to bat in the 33rd over against India, in 2010. Since recorded history, de Villiers is the only batsman to score a century after coming in to bat after the 30th over, and he has done it twice.

40 Minutes in which De Villiers got to his hundred. He needed only 19 minutes to reach his fifty.

339 De Villiers' strike rate during his innings of 149, which is the highest strike rate for a 50-plus knock and the first time that a batsman has made a 100-plus score at a 300-plus strike rate.

Fastest ODI Fifties

 Runs    Balls    Player    Match    Venue    Year
 149    16    AB de Villiers    SA v WI    Johannesburg    18/01/2015
 76    17    ST Jayasuriya    SL v Pak    Singapore    07/04/1996
 74    18    SP O'Donnell    Aus v SL    Sharjah    02/05/1990
 102    18    Shahid Afridi    Pak v SL    Nairobi    04/10/1996
 55*    18    Shahid Afridi    Pak v Neth    Colombo    21/09/2002
 60    18    GJ Maxwell    Aus v Ind    Bangalore    02/11/2013
 59    18    Shahid Afridi    Pak v Ban    Mirpur    04/03/2014
 51*    19    MV Boucher    SA v Ken    Cape Town    22/10/2001
 53*    19    JM Kemp    SA v Zim    Durban    27/02/2005
 80*    19    BB McCullum    NZ v Ban    Queenstown    31/12/2007

Fastest ODI Hundreds

 Runs    Balls    Player    Match    Venue    Year
 149    31    AB de Villiers    SA v WI    Johannesburg    18/01/2015
 131*    36    CJ Anderson    NZ v WI    Queenstown    01/01/2014
 102    37    Shahid Afridi    Pak v SL    Nairobi    04/10/1996
 147*    44    MV Boucher    SA v Zim    Potchefstroom    20/09/2006
 117    45    BC Lara    WI v Ban    Dhaka    09/10/1999
 102    45    Shahid Afridi    Pak v Ind    Kanpur    15/04/2005
 104    46    JD Ryder    NZ v WI    Queenstown    01/01/2014
 134    48    ST Jayasuriya    SL v Pak    Singapore    02/04/1996
 113    50    KJ O'Brien    Ire v Eng    Bangalore    02/03/2011
 100*    52    V Kohli    Ind v Aus    Jaipur    16/10/2013