Lucky to have played so many games for South Africa: De Villiers

AB de Villiers said that he is lucky to have played for his country over a long period of time after becoming only the sixth South African to play 200 One-Day Internationals on Sunday (June 19) during the tri-series clash against Australia, in West Indies.

The game was washed out after the first over which brought back memories of his 100th Test, also affected by rain, last year in November in Bangalore against India. The skipper though decided to shrug off the coincidence and instead chose to reflect on his long career.

"I'm not too fussed about that kind of thing, the fact that it rained off. I take it one game at a time," de Villiers said after the teams shared points. "It's a nice milestone and a way to look back over my career, how lucky I've been to have played so many games and to have been around for so long. It is a great privilege and an honour to represent this country and to have played for that long."

South Africa are now on top of the points table and West Indies' victory over Australia on Tuesday, will guarantee their spot in Sunday's final. However, if Australia beat the hosts, De Villiers & Co. will have to ensure they do not suffer a huge loss against the West Indies in their final round-robin game on Friday.

De Villiers expressed happiness with the way his side recovered in the tournament after succumbing to Sunil Narine in the opening game and was particularly pleased with his side's ability to deliver in must-win games in recent times. He was referring to South Africa's previous ODI assignment against England at home where they came back from being 0-2 down to dramatically win the series 3-2.

"The close games we've won as a team mean more than personal milestones. Those are the kind of things I'll look back to and think I'm a really fortunate man," de Villiers said. "We've played quite a few really close series in the past, like this one, where we've had a few must-win games. We enjoy those kind of situations. We like to bring the fight when it matters most. It's a great opportunity for us to prove that we are that kind of team under pressure."

South Africa finally handed a game to Morne Morkel after deciding to drop one spinner on a surface that was expected to assist the seamers. The skipper admitted that his side were willing to be flexible with their composition based on the conditions that were on offer.

"I'm always a believer in having that spinner in your pocket; it's a great way to change the pace of the game. But the stats tell you the seamers have been doing the damage here and it looked like that kind of wicket," the 32-year-old said.

"Imran Tahir could bowl on glass at the moment, he's in great form. So I was never going to leave him out of the side. We also have four world-class seam bowlers to do the business. I thought both teams had decent balance," he added.

While De Villiers admitted that the players could get a bit complacent, especially with South Africa well placed to reach the final, but feels he will assess the situation only on the morning of the game.

"It's all about reading the situation and reading where your team's at," he said. "There are certain mornings when I see the guys strolling around a bit, and they need a bit of a kick to get going. On other mornings, I feel the energy's in a really good place so I just let it go and keep it low key. It changes from day to day, and I'll try and assess that again at training and when we arrive here that morning for that big, must-win game." he concluded.