South Africa's legendary batter AB de Villiers turned back the clock at The County Ground, Northampton, as he smashed four sixes and three fours in his unbeaten 30-ball 63 against India Champions in World Championship of Legends 2025 match. As Yuvraj Singh got injured during South Africa Champions' innings, India Champions failed to put up a fight and could manage to post 111/9, losing the match by 88 runs as per DLS method.
ABD powers Proteas past 200
Earlier, Yuvraj won the toss and opted to bowl first. Hashim Amla hit four fours before falling to Piyush Chawla in the fifth over. South Africa Champions were 48/1 after powerplay overs. In the ninth over, Jacques Rudolph was run out for a 20-ball 24. In the same over, Yusuf Pathan knocked over Erwee for a 12-ball 15. Jean-Paul Duminy hit a six and a four before losing his wicket to leg-spinner Chawla in the 12th over.
De Villiers and Wayne Parnell took the aerial route. Parnell became Yusuf's second victim of the day for a six-ball 11. In the penultimate over, de Villiers went berserk and hit Vinay Kumar for three sixes and a four. He reached his half-century from 28 deliveries. In the last over, Abhimanyu Mithun dismissed JJ Smuts for a 17-ball 30. He hit three fours and a six in his knock. De Villiers did not get the strike as Morne van Wyk hit three fours and a six from the remaining deliveries, taking South Africa Champions' score to 208/6.
No fight from Indian batters
India's run chase got off to a poor start. Shikhar Dhawan was knocked over for one run by Hardus Viljoen. Then, Wayne Parnell struck twice to get rid of Robin Uthappa and Ambati Rayudu in the fifth over. Uthappa managed to score just two runs from 13 balls. In the next over, Suresh Raina got bowled for an 11-ball 16 to Duanne Olivier. India Champions were 33/4 after powerplay overs.ย
The pressure continued to mount. Imran Tahir dismissed Yusuf on the first ball as De Villiers and Erwee combined to take an excellent relay catch. Irfan Pathan could not do much either and got out lbw to Aaron Phangiso. Binny hit a few boundaries but the required run rate slipped out of the grasp. In the 15th over, Phangiso struck twice to dismiss Chawla and Pawan Negi. Vinay hit two fours before becoming Tahir's second victim of the evening. India managed to post 111/9 from 18.2 overs as an injured Yuvraj did not walk out to bat. Binny remained not out for 37 off 39 balls. India Champions lost the target by 88 runs as per DLS method as they needed 200 runs from 19 overs due to a floodlight issue.