CAPE TOWN – “It was quick, fast and fun.”
That was AB de Villiers’ assessment of the unique 3TC event held at SuperSport Park on Saturday. It certainly seemed the new format, whereby three teams are involved at the same time, was tailor made for De Villiers with the master batsman smashing a rapid 61 to lead his Eagles side to the gold medal.
“I was surprised a few came out of the middle of the bat. I had a few nets leading up to this game, so I wasn’t completely cold. It was scratchy early on, but once I got started it was like riding that bicycle that I missed so badly,” said De Villiers, who has been retired from international cricket since 2018.
“Honestly, it was just great to be out there. Now that I’ve started I am definitely going to keep in the mix of practising and try to get that form at the top level of what I can be.”
De Villiers shared a hugely-entertaining partnership with Proteas opener Aiden Markram, who top-scored on the day with 70. Watching the two local SuperSport Park heroes swat aside the bowling with disdain brought back memories of their epic partnerships for the Proteas during the historic Test series against Australia a couple of years ago.
Will Proteas fans be able to watch De Villiers and Markram in tandem on a more regular basis going forward?
“I don’t know what to expect to be honest. It has been quite a few months now and nothing really has been properly scheduled yet,” De Villiers said.
“Obviously I would just like to get out there and play cricket. There are lots of talks, but in the meantime, I will stay fit in the gym and hit cricket balls. Hopefully the virus moves on and we can get back to as normal as possible in no time.”
There was great speculation earlier this year that De Villiers would come out of international retirement to be ready for the ICC T20 World Cup originally scheduled for later this year. However, the fate of this year’s T20 World Cup has been on hold for the past two months, and will be up for a decisive round of deliberation when the ICC executive board meets virtually on Monday.
The global event is meant to be held from October 18 to November 15 in Australia but there is great uncertainty around the event due to a second surge of Covid-19 cases in Melbourne.
IOL Sport
