Five bowlers who got the better of AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers is arguably the best batsman in world cricket these days, scoring runs with remarkable consistency in every format. With a full range of strokes and crafty improvisations, De Villiers is a bowler’s nightmare.He dispatches the good deliveries to the fence, and bad ones over it. While he has no particular weakness in his game, there are a few bowlers who’ve had a measure of De Villiers, having been able to dismiss him more regularly than others.Before he had found his feet properly at the international level, Shane Warne dismissed De Villiers in four out of six matches. Muttiah Muralitharan played just two Tests against him in 2006, dismissing him three times.Here’s a list of bowlers who got the measure of AB deVilliers:

#5 Mitchell Johnson

5 times in Tests

3 times in ODIs

The De Villiers-Johnson duel made for an interesting watch, as it came at a time when both were on top of their game. De Villiers was the highest run getter for South Africa when they hosted Australia in 2013-2014, averaging 56 with the bat. Mitchell Johnson was at his devastating best in the series as well, getting 22 wickets in three matches, including two five-wicket hauls.

He dismissed De Villiers four times in the Test series, getting him twice in the Centurion Test. He also dismissed De Villiers three times in a single ODI series in 2009, getting him caught twice and LBW once. He dismissed him cheaply for two in Durban (2009), as the Proteas were shot out for 145 in response to Australia’s 286.

#4 Sreesanth

5 times in Tests

Once in T20s

The temperamental speedster operated in extremes, being unplayable on some days and pedestrian on others. From 2006-2011, Sreesanth got the better of De Villiers in five out of nine matches. De Villiers averaged 16 from those five games, a good 35 units below his Test average.

Sreesanth even managed to get De Villiers out on a duck in the Boxing Day Test of 2010, a rare achievement against someone who holds the record for most Tests without a duck. In all those five matches, De Villiers couldn’t get past fifty even once, getting out in single digits on three occasions.

Sreesanth also dismissed De Villiers for one run in the T20 World Cup in 2007, as India defeated South Africa as part of their successful inaugural T20 campaign.

#3 Peter Siddle

6 times in Tests

The Johnson-Siddle attack operated in unison, tormenting the best of batting line-ups with their vicious pace. Siddle has accounted for De Villiers six times in twelve matches. Interestingly, he bowled him in three of those six occasions. Twice he got out to Siddle for single digit figures.

The first of those instances was in 2008, when a 24-year-old Siddle, playing only his second Test series, wrecked havoc with his pace, taking 13 wickets in three matches. In the Adelaide Test in 2012, he got his wicket in both the innings, catching him plumb in front of the wickets for 1.

He got through the defences of De Villiers in the second innings after the latter had famously played out 220 deliveries for 33 runs, in a successful bid to save the match. De Villiers couldn’t manage a century on any of the six occasions, his highest being 84.

#2 Shahid Afridi

5 times in ODIs

2 times in T20s

De Villiers is known to thrash spin attacks into submission with his power hitting. He has had a prolific record against Pakistan in ODIs, with three centuries and an average of 62.

Shahid Afridi has been a vital cog in Pakistan’s bowling line up for a long time, showing the consistency that is generally lacking in his batting. His variations, especially the faster ones, have flummoxed many a batsmen, and De Villiers is no exception.

He has dismissed the batsman five times in ODIs and twice in T20Is. Interestingly, he cleaned bowled him twice in ODIs, and both times in T20Is. This count also involves a controversial stumping decision against De Villiers in an ODI in 2010. DeVilliers could garner only 1 and 14 runs in the two T20s, before getting out to Afridi’s skidders.

#1 Stuart Broad

7 times in Tests

2 times in ODIs

Statistically, Stuart Broad has been the most successful bowler against De Villiers in Tests, getting him out seven times in five matches that they’ve played against each other from 2008-2012. Three of those seven times he managed to dismiss De Villiers before he reached 50.

He dismissed him leg before for two in the Boxing Day test in 2009 when the English attack famously dismissed the famed South African lineup for a paltry 133 and went on to win the Test match with an innings to spare.

He has also dismissed him twice in ODIs. In the 2013 Champions Trophy semifinals, Broad dismissed him for a nine-ball duck as South Africa crumbled to 175, and eventually, a 7-wicket loss. De Villiers had made 121 before Broad dismissed him at Cape Town in 2009.