De Villers' 146 propel South Africa to massive 356 for 4

St George's Park, Grenada, Apr 10 (UNI) AB de Villiers (146) blasted his maiden one-day ton as South Africa, hell bent to prove that the shock defeat against Bangladesh was an aberration, treated the West Indies as a punching bag pummeling them to post a mammoth 356 for four in 50 overs in a crucial Super Eights tie at National Cricket stadium here today.

Asked to bat first in a must-win tie -- a defeat here could end either of the teams' World Cup campaign -- South Africa lost their skipper Graeme Smith early but AB de Villers played a memorable and probably most opportune innings of his career so far hitting 146 in just 129 balls.

Together with old warhorse Jacques Kallis (81 off 86 balls), he added 170 runs for second wicket to put South Africa in a commanding position.

Towards the end, Herschelle Gibbs (61, 41 balls) and Mark Boucher (52, 32 balls) scored lightening fast to leave the hosts with a mountain to climb.

The duo plundered 86 runs in just six overs sharing eight massive sixes in between them.

With the exception of Correy Collymore (two for 41), not a single West Indian bowler was spared and Protea bats went on to hit 14 maximums in the innings.

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