(CNN) -- A.B. de Villiers scored the fastest century by a South African batsman at a Cricket World Cup to give his country a winning start to the 2011 tournament on Thursday, beating the West Indies by seven wickets in New Delhi.
De Villiers, who also scored a World Cup ton against the Windies four years ago with 146 in the Caribbean, guided the Proteas to their target of 223 with 7.1 of the 50 allotted overs remaining.
He came to the crease with South Africa wobbling at 20-2 after key batsman Jacques Kallis fell for just four runs, but he added 119 with captain Graeme Smith (45) to steady the innings and then an unbroken 84 with J.P. Duminy.
There was a brief break for rain after 38 overs, but De Villiers went on to reach three figures in 97 balls faced -- a lot slower than Australian Matthew Hayden's record of 66 against South Africa in 2007. CNN
