Holder hails ‘exceptional’ De Villiers

2015 World Cup

West Indies captain Jason Holder hailed South Africa counterpart AB de Villiers as an 'exceptional' player, after the Proteas skipper blasted 162 off 66 balls to lead his side to a 257-run win over the men from the Caribbean in a World Cup Pool B match in Sydney on Friday.

Coming in at number five, with the score on 146 for three, after losing two quick wickets, De Villiers hit the fastest ODI 150, as his team scored a massive 408 for five in their 50 overs.

The West Indies batsman then folded meekly to be bowled out for a paltry 151 inside 34 overs, to hand the Proteas a World Cup record-equalling 257-run victory.

After the match Holder heaped praise on De Villiers: "AB played a very good innings today. I thought we were well in the game when he came to the crease, but he was his normal, exceptional self. Credit to him.

"I thought he played well and took the game away from us in the end. He obviously scores around the ground. Whenever he gains momentum, he's difficult to stop. We tried to execute some yorkers and we just didn't land them.

"Having said that, he created room which most batsmen probably wouldn't have. I think we must give him credit. I mean, he's not in a sense an easy player to take down."

2015-world-cup latest-news west-indies

Latest