Felt like my first game again, says AB post whirlwind 176

Swashbuckling South Africa batsman AB de Villiers, who smashed a career-best 176 to set up a series-clinching 104-run against Bangladesh, has said he was quite nervous and it felt like his first knock for the team when he walked out to bat at 90/2.

De Villiers smashed 15 fours and 7 sixes during his 104-ball knock against Bangladesh at Boland Park in Paarl on Wednesday.

The swashbuckling batsman, who has only recently made himself available for the Proteas in all formats following a break from the game, fell just 12 runs short of Gary Kirsten's 188* - the highest score by a South African in ODI cricket.

"I was quite nervous starting off ... it felt like my first game again walking out to bat," Sport24 quoted the 33-year-old said as saying.

"It's great to be back. It's a huge privilege to play for my team and my country. For the last few months I've been working really hard on my game and all I wanted to do was get back into the side," he added.

De Villiers insisted that what he need was couple of months away with the family, which he got during the break.

And he feels that he is at the very top of his game right now.

"I'm hitting the ball as well as ever and it felt that way out there ... I could feel the ball coming off really well," he said," he said.

"I just want to get my rhythm going and get as many as I can for the team. It's not something I play for," he added.

De Villiers already holds the records for the fastest 50, 100 and 150 in ODIs, and was on course to break Chris Gayle's record of scoring the fastest ODI double-century, in just 138 balls.