AB de Villiers' Brilliance Leads South Africa To 88-Run Victory Over India

The former South African legend AB de Villiers' bat and his magic are still as dangerous as they used to be during his peak period. His age is only 41 in numbers, but on the field, he still plays with the same power, aggression, and enthusiasm as he used to play in IPL and international matches. All this was seen in the match played between India and South Africa Champions in the World Championship of Legends 2025 (WCL 2025). In this match held on 22 July, all the focus was once again on AB de Villiers. Because he not only crushed the Indian bowlers with the bat but also dismissed India's last hope, Yusuf Pathan, with his agility on the field.

South Africa Champions, batting first, scored 206 runs for 6 wickets in 20 overs. AB de Villiers was the hero of this score, who scored an unbeaten 61 runs in just 30 balls at a strike rate of 203.33. During this, he also hit 3 amazing sixes, which were an introduction to his class and power. Be it any bowler—Dhawal Kulkarni, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, or Manpreet Goni—everyone was in the same situation in front of AB de Villiers. Bowlers kept changing, but not the speed of de Villiers.

Due to rain, India got a target of scoring 200 runs in 18.2 overs instead of 207 runs. But in front of this challenge, the condition of the Indian champions was shaky from the beginning. Batsmen like Robin Uthappa, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, and Ambati Rayudu could not do anything special. Yuvraj Singh did not play in this match. In such a situation, the backbone of the team had already started looking weak. When Yusuf Pathan was on the field, there was a slight hope that India might make a comeback in the match. But then Yusuf played a big shot on Imran Tahir's ball, and it seemed that the ball would cross the boundary. But AB de Villiers was standing there. Even at the age of 41, he showed amazing agility and not only stopped the catch on the boundary line but also converted it into an out by throwing it to a fellow player standing nearby. This catch not only ended Yusuf's innings but also dashed India's remaining hopes. The entire team of Indian Champions could score only 111 runs in 18.2 overs and lost 9 wickets. Thus they had to face a crushing defeat of 88 runs. A total of 8 sixes were hit in the match, out of which 7 were from South Africa's team and only one six came from India.