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AB de Villiers fired himself up during long wait in dressing room before world-record knock

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AB de Villiers revealed he fired himself up in the dressing room before his world record ton in one-day internationals off 31 balls.

AB de Villiers revealed he fired himself up in the dressing room before his world record ton in one-day internationals off 31 balls.

The South Africa star - who smashed 149 off 44 balls against the West Indies - said he planned his aggressive knock before coming out to bat.

He beat the quickest century scored by New Zealand’s Corey Anderson against the Windies off 36 balls in 2014.

And De Villiers - who smashed a remarkable 16 sixes - said he wanted to make a big impact and did not know he was close to the record until he reached 92.

"I had a lot of time to warm up in changing room," he said. "I did a lot of walks up and down thinking of how I should be playing.

"I sort of played my knock even before I went out to bat and the word aggression was probably the thing for me today. I wanted to go from the word go.

"I was never sure how many balls it was that Corey Anderson took to get to 100 but I knew I had to be close and I wasn't going to take ones in the 90s."

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The 30-year-old broke the record batting with Hashim Amla, who made an unbeaten 153. De Villiers dominated the second-wicket stand of 192 runs off 68 balls with Amla.

He added: “I love batting with Hash, he calms me down a lot at the crease. He is so calm and relaxed, it is easy to bat with him.”

Amla praised his team-mate, saying: "He's an amazing player. I don't think there's anybody else who can do it as consistently as AB."

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