ICC World Cup: All-star de Villiers helps SA thrash UAE by 146 runs

WellingtonSkipper AB de Villiers led from the front with an allround show to help South Africa thrash minnows UAE by 146 runs and put the teams cricket World Cup campaign back on track in its final pool B ODI encounter here todayDe Villiers struck a blazing 99 and then picked up 2 wickets with his medium pace to steer Proteas who were coming off a shock loss to Pakistan in their previous match The South Africans are now second in the pool led by India who still have a match to play against ZimbabweAB de Villiers Pic AFPHowever the final standings will only be known after the PakistanIreland and West IndiesUAE clashes on Sunday Striking his second fifty of the tournament de Villiers jumped to the second spot in the runscorers list behind Kumar Sangakkara as South Africa amassed 341 for six in their stipulated 50 overs after being put into bat firstComing in at number seven batsman Farhaan Behardien 64 not out also played a crucial knock and stitched up an unbeaten 49run seventhwicket partnership with Vernon Philander 10 not out to give Proteas the necessary fillip in the end oversThe South African bowlers were also clinical in their showing as Morne Morkel Vernon Philander and de Villiers shared two wickets apiece to bundle out UAE for 195 in 473 overs UAEs No11 Fahad Alhashmi was unable to come out on the field due to injuryUAE were never in the chase as they lost wickets at regular intervals with wicketkeeperbatsman Swapnil Patil 57 not out and Shaiman Anwar 39 providing the only bit of resistance in an otherwise lackluster showing South Africa batsmen on the other hand were a complete contrast with a concerted effort from the top middle and the lowerorderQuinton de Kock 26 and Rilee Roussow 43 stitched a 68run second wicket partnership though the innings wobbled after the wicketkeeperbatsmans departure in the 19th over De Villiers whose 82ball stay was laced with 6 fours and 4 sixes then managed a 108run fourth wicket stand with David Miller 49 to give the inexperienced UAE bowlers a hard timeDe Villiers though was unlucky to miss out on his second ton of the tournament after being scalped by newball bowler Kamran ShazadThen Behardien smacked his way to his third ODI fifty a 31ball cameo laced with 5 fours and 3 sixes UAE pace spearhead Mohammad Naveed bagged 3 wickets while Shazad Amjad Javed and skipper Mohammad Tauqir also chipped in with a wicket eachEarlier De Villiers once again proved to be the crucial cog for the Proteas who have endured an unexpectedly wobbly campaign so far However the prolific righthander missed out on a hundred by a solitary run even though he walked back with a smile on his face after being caught by Javed at third manLater Behardien played out a sensational knock to propel the South Africans to a mammoth total The South Africans were off to an edgy start with Amla and de Kock failing to provide a solid platform for the middle orderBut Rossouw 43 off 49 balls 4x8 lent some stability before de Villiers took it upon himself to rescue the side yet again The dashing batsman combined with Miller to help South Africa recover from a rather precarious 963 The duo took the team total past 200 before Miller was castled by Naveed after a 48ball stay during which he struck two foursDe Villiers made his way back after taking the side past 250 The South Africans capitalised on the momentum provided by de Villiers through Behardien who finally came good after an indifferent campaign so far