How AB de Villiers Smashed Stuart Broad All Over The Park To Complete Revenge 

AB de Villiers was struggling against Stuart Broad in the 2016 Test series. It was almost like Stuart Broad had made him his bunny. Broad had dismissed de Villiers thrice out of seven innings in a Test match which included two duck. The premier South Africa batsman, however, did not let his guard down as he gave him back in the ODI series.

In the ODIs, De Villiers scored 218 runs from five innings at an average of 72.67, as South Africa came from behind and won the series 3-2. De Villiers recalled the sweet revenge over Broad in a Super Over podcast with JP Duminy and said how he was totally over the fast bowler in the ODI leg.

AB de Villiers: Stuart Broad was completely over me in that Test series

AB de Villiers said Stuart Broad was completely over him in the Test series and he was feeling the pressure. Broad had made him jump all over the place and de Villiers decided that he is not going to allow that to happen in the ODIs.

“It’s right when you say it, and Broad was completely over me in that Test series couple of weeks prior to the ODIs. I was definitely feeling pressure from his side, he was bowling with amazing skill throughout the series. He had me jumping all over the place, he was actually on top of me. I had to do something. I decided in the ODI series that I’m not going to allow that to happen,” AB de Villiers said.

In Johannesburg, while South Africa were set a target of 263 runs on board, they were left reeling at 63/2 when AB de Villiers stepped in. But soon, the home team lost another wicket as JP Duminy joined de Villiers in the middle. Recalling the match, Duminy said that de Villiers was out there to show Broad that he is there.

“We were playing against England at the Wanderers,” Duminy recalled. “and Stuart Broad was bowling and I was defending, just trying to get the partnership going. AB walks in, double steps him and hits him straight over his head, like, in the first few balls, and I am like, ‘Jeepers, OK!’ And we come together, and I was like, ‘Yo, Abraham! What happened there?’

“He’s like, ‘No! Need to make sure I am letting him know that I am here.’ You talk about belief, we were speaking about Virat Kohli, and I think that was the difference. He certainly had this ability to transfer pressure in an amazing way, and be consistent with it because a lot of us will try and do it. But the word he mentioned there was commitment, that in those moments when he made decisions, there was no holding back – sweeping somebody or coming down the wicket, that commitment was fully there.”

De Villiers could contribute a fiery 36 off 27 in the match as he was run out and South Africa won the contest by a wicket.