De Villiers shines as Proteas cruise past Windies in first ODI

South African skipper AB de Villiers blasted a stunning knock of 81runs to anchor his side to seal a 61-run Duckworth-Lewis victory over West Indies in the opening match of their ODI series at Kingsmead.

The swashbuckling batsman shared a robust third wicket partnership of 99 with Hashim Amla (66) and subsequently a 123 runs partnership with David Miller (70) to help their side to post 279 before a heavy rain storm prematurely ended their innings on 48.2 overs, Sport24 reported.

The match also witnessed Amla reaching a landmark as he became the fastest South African batsmen to go past 5000 runs in ODIs.

Chasing the target, the tourists were bowled out for 164, with only Chris Gayle shining for West Indies as he blasted a swift 41 runs off 24 balls at the top of the innings.

Spearheading the bowling unit, Dale Steyn scalped three wickets for 27 runs and was aided by leg-spinner Imran Tahir (3-30) and Vernon Philander (3-44) bagging three wickets apiece.

Currently, South Africa leads 1-0 in the five match ODI series against West Indies.