AB de Villiers lifted the WCL trophy after South Africa’s nine-wicket win against Pakistan at Edgbaston.
On Saturday 2 August, the South Africa Champions crushed the Pakistan Champions to win the World Championship of Legends (WCL) by 9 wickets.
After a close victory by one run against the Australian Champions, the final saw the South Africa Champions win easily due to the impressive batting display of JP Duminy’s 50* and AB de Villiers’s 120*.
The WCL is a T20 tournament which pits past players of each country against one another. While the cricketers are no longer in their prime years, they retain a number of skills which demonstrate why they represented their country.
The tournament was marred by a conflict extending beyond the boundary in the form of tension between India and Pakistan, due to geopolitical friction as a result of the recent Pahalgam terror attack in India. This resulted in the India Champions refusing to compete against the Pakistan Champions in both the group stage and the semifinal, which allowed Pakistan to reach the finals.
The cricketer who was the focal point of the tournament was surely De Villiers. AB is one of the most beloved cricketers of all time and is considered one of South Africa’s greatest. His ability to dominate the bowlers with elegant and inventive shots is nothing short of cricketing genius.
Despite his prodigious skill, AB had never won a tournament with the Proteas. He has been at the centre of many heartaches for South Africa — none more significant than the loss of the 2015 ODI World Cup.
Memories of Grant Elliott hitting Dale Steyn for a six to win the game for New Zealand are etched into the minds of so many South Africans. The image of the Proteas crying on the field after the heartbreaking loss in the semifinal will never be forgotten — least of all by those players.
This loss continued the legacy of South Africans performing well — until the end of a tournament. Following a two-decade boycott by international cricket, in the 1992 World Cup, the rain-rule prevented South Africa from advancing to the finals.
Seven years later, in the 1999 World Cup, the Proteas needed to score one run off the last three balls of the innings when a miscommunication led to Alan Donald being run out, tying the game and allowing Australia to reach the finals due to their superior run rate.
There were six players from the 2015 squad who were also part of the WCL team: De Villiers, Aaron Phangiso, Hashim Amla, Imran Tahir, Jean-Paul Duminy and Wayne Parnell. The players experienced the devastating loss firsthand.
Cricketing fans love to watch the sport as a narrative. The contests tend to create stories which fans can become enthralled with. Stories of underdogs overcoming all the odds and the rivalries between different players and teams can create moments that are irresistible to them.
The WCL has provided a narrative of redemption for those six players from the 2015 World Cup. They have seemingly atoned for their errors and were rewarded with the WCL trophy and the recognition that comes with such a prize.
AB’s performance in the WCL is nothing short of remarkable. He was the number one run scorer of the season, accumulating 429 runs at a strike rate of 220 and an average of 143. He was so far ahead of every other player in the tournament that he outscored the tournament’s second and third-best run scorers combined.
These statistics boggle the mind. Batters past their active playing days simply do not play like this. While they can still play well, AB was head and shoulders above the competition. He appeared Bradmanesque; so far beyond the opposition that comparison seems farcical.
De Villiers managed to show the world why he is considered a legend even at his age. He demonstrated his brilliance, whether nailing a driver through the covers or getting down on one knee to slog-sweep the bowler for a massive six. He manipulated the field and dominated the bowlers to such an extent that he only lost his wicket in half his matches.
This victory came on the heels of that of the Proteas, who finally overcame their curse of being chokers in their World Test Championship victory. That game has finally rid them of the moniker that has weighed on each player to represent South Africa in tournaments.
Did that victory affect the performance of the South Africa Champions during the tournament? Perhaps. Or perhaps they just managed to use some of the spark from their prime playing days to reinvigorate themselves and perform to the best of their current abilities.
During the lead-up to the 2015 World Cup, the players used the term “Protea fire” to show their passion for the team and fighting to win the trophy. This term has continued to be used over the years, but the momentum it carried before South Africa’s exit in the semifinals had diminished it.
The victory might not fully heal the pain that was experienced in 2015, but it has certainly helped to restore some of the Protea fire that was extinguished a decade ago.
Craig Thrupp is philosophy PhD graduate and educator who is passionate about sport and the spirit of the game.