AB de Villiers to enter 100-Test club in Bangalore

On Saturday at Bangalore's M Chinnaswamy Stadium, AB de Villiers will become the seventh South African cricketer to play 100 Tests. The in-form batsman, who has played 99, will follow Jacques Kallis (165), Mark Boucher (146), Graeme Smith (116), Shaun Pollock (108) and Gary Kirsten and Mkhaya Ntni (101) to the landmark.
De Villiers, 31, made his debut in the format in December 2004 at Port Elizabeth, scoring 28 and 14 while opening the batting with his former captain Smith, in a seven-wicket loss to England.His first century came in his fifth Test, also against England, a match in which he made 92 in the first innings.
Since then, de Villiers has morphed into a world-class batsman capable of shredding bowling attacks in any condition. The first of his two Test double-centuries was an attacking 217 not out against India at Ahmedabad in April 2008, a match that South Africa wrapped up in three days. His career-best of 278* was scored against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi in November 2010, a superb effort that in the company of Kallis helped South Africa recover from 33/3 to 584.
Among his most brutal hundreds are 129 from 112 balls against India at Centurion in 2010, 103 not out from 109 balls versus West Indies at Durban in 2008, 169 off 184 balls against Australia at Perth in 2012 and 163 off 196 also against Australia at Cape Town in 2009. In matches won, de Villiers averages 65.93, scoring 15 of his 21 centuries in South African victories. Of his 21 Test centuries, eight have been excess of 150. De Villiers has kept wickets in 23 of his 99 Tests, and during that time his batting average was 58.92, significantly higher than an overall average of 51.92. Across his 99-Test career, de Villiers has won five Man-of-the-Match awards and four Man-of-the-Series awards.
There have been several illustrious cricketers to mark their 100th Tests with special performances. Pakistan great Javed Miandad scored 145 against India in his 100th appearance, West Indies' Gordon Greenidge took 149 off England in his, Inzamam-ul-Haq scored 184 - the highest individual score by a batsman in his 100th Test - to set up victory over India, and Graeme Smith, Alec Stewart and Colin Cowdrey also recorded three figures in their respective landmark games. Ricky Ponting went one better, marking his 100th Test with twin centuries against South Africa, the only player to do so.
With the ball, Test cricket's three most successful spin bowlers also had memorable 100th matches - Shane Warne took eight wickets, scored 63 in the first innings and 15 not out in the second as Australia beat South Africa; Muttiah Muralitharan spun Sri Lanka to victory over Bangladesh with nine wickets; and Anil Kumble took a five-wicket haul in Sri Lanka's second innings to lead India to a win.
Can de Villiers join these famous cricketers and produce something special in his 100th Test?