WELLINGTON:
South Africa captain AB de Villiers became one of the top 10 run scorers in World Cup history on Thursday, although it will have done little to ease the agony of being dismissed on 99.
De Villiers was on the verge of his third century at this year’s World Cup facing the United Arab Emirates in Wellington when he smashed the ball straight to Amjad Javed at third man.
He became only the third player to fall for 99 at a World Cup after Australia’s Adam Gilchrist in 2003 and de Villiers’ Proteas teammate JP Duminy in 2011.
But his innings lifted his total tally of runs scored at World Cups to 1,142, placing him seventh on the all-time list headed by India’s Sachin Tendulkar on 2,278.
He also hit four sixes against the UAE, taking him to 20 for the tournament to beat Australian Matthew Hayden’s record of 18 set at the 2007 edition.
