After two explosive centuries in the group stage, AB de Villiers delivered yet another masterclass in the final—an unbeaten 120 off just 60 balls—as South Africa crushed Pakistan to become champions in the World Championship of Legends.
Wrapped in the South African flag, flashing a wide smile, and dancing in front of the trophy—AB de Villiers celebrated with pure joy. Who’s ever seen him like that before? Joined by teammate Wayne Parnell, their dance soon inspired the rest of the squad to break into celebration too. It was the kind of title-winning joy every team dreams of.
Despite lighting up every format of international cricket during his playing career, de Villiers never got his hands on a global title for South Africa. Now, in this legends tournament, he finally tasted glory with his country. With a breathtaking knock, he led South Africa to a dominant win over Pakistan in the final.
On Saturday in Birmingham, South Africa Champions thrashed Pakistan Champions by nine wickets.
After scoring two centuries in the group stage, de Villiers produced a match-winning 120* from 60 deliveries in the final.
On the road to the final, he hammered 116* off 51 balls against England and a brutal 123 off 46 balls against Australia. In the semifinal against Australia, he managed just 6 runs before falling to Peter Siddle—but South Africa edged a nail-biting one-run victory to reach the final. And once there, de Villiers roared back to his best.
When de Villiers suddenly retired from international cricket in 2018 at just 34, it left the cricket world in shock. He continued to dazzle in franchise leagues, and talks of a national comeback surfaced more than once—especially in T20s—but never materialized. Now 41, his performance in this tournament has reignited those old what-if feelings.
In the tournament, de Villiers scored 429 runs in six innings, including three centuries and a fifty. His batting average? A staggering 143. Strike rate? An outrageous 220. No other batter in the tournament even crossed 200 runs. Unsurprisingly, he was named both Man of the Final and Man of the Tournament.
In the final at Edgbaston, Pakistan posted a competitive 195 in 20 overs. Sharjeel Khan led the way with 76 off 44 balls, but the rest of the top order faltered. Kamran Akmal fell for 2 off 5, captain Mohammad Hafeez made 17 off 10, and Shoaib Malik crawled to 20 off 25.
Later contributions from Umar Amin (36* off 19) and Asif Ali (28 off 15) pushed Pakistan close to the 200-mark.
For South Africa, Wayne Parnell and Hardus Viljoen picked up two wickets each, while Duanne Olivier took one. Although spinners Imran Tahir and captain Aaron Phangiso were effective throughout the tournament, both had off days in the final.
Despite the challenging target, de Villiers and South Africa made light work of it. They smashed 72 runs in the powerplay alone. Hashim Amla scored just 18 off 14 in the opening stand.
Then came the match-winning partnership: an unbroken 125-run stand between de Villiers and JP Duminy sealed the win with 19 balls to spare.
De Villiers’ 60-ball 120 featured 12 fours and 7 sixes. Duminy remained not out on 50 off 28 balls.
The six-team tournament saw Pakistan finish top of the group stage, with South Africa second. India reached the semifinals but forfeited both their group-stage and semifinal matches against Pakistan due to political tensions. England and the West Indies failed to make it past the group stage.
