AB hails record-breaking Amla

South Africa skipper AB de Villiers has hailed the “amazing” Hashim Amla after the Proteas opener set yet another batting record by becoming 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, so that told the story."

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 to bat, so there was big pressure there. They did really well to shift it back to 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 most complete ODI runmaker of the century, required 162 innings; Sachin Tendulkar 234, Ricky Ponting 279, and Kumar Sangakkara 379. Amla needed 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 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, hopefully we have many more years of it."

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 goggly 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.

"It was close to 10 out of 10!” said de Villiers of Tahir’s performance. "Not only with the ball in hand but that run-out, it always shows me where the player is at when he shows that kind of dedication and commitment in the field. Immy is a great asset for us. He takes wickets and is also economical most of the time.”

Tahir also possesses one of cricket’s more distinctive celebrations. “Ah, it's great to see,” said de Villiers, of the trademark 'Tahir tearaway’ celebration that invariably finishes somewhere out at deep mid-wicket. "He just loves playing for South Africa. I love seeing that passion come out when he celebrates his wickets. There's nothing wrong with that. He's earned the right to go a little bit overboard sometimes, and it puts a smile on all the teammates’ faces.”

South Africa are smiling. AB de Villiers, who himself pulled off a stunning catch and run-out to contribute to a convincing victory, sees only good things for his team in the ICC Champions Trophy. Today at The Oval they showed exactly why they are among the favourites to return to the ground to compete in the final on June 18.