SA-C vs PAK-C Review | AB de Villiers smashes title-winning century for SA Champs to beat Pak Champs in WCL 2025 Final
South Africa Champions clinched their maiden World Championship of Legends title after outmuscling Pakistan Champions by nine wickets in the final of the 2025 edition. Skipper AB de Villiers smashed a sensational and match-winning knock of 120 runs off just 60 balls to make the game one-sided.
After securing a direct spot due to India’s walkover in the second semi-final, the Pakistan Champions took on the South Africa Champions in the tournament’s summit clash at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Pak Champs’ skipper Mohammad Hafeez won the toss and asked his batters to take charge first. The Men in Green faced a first blow in just the third over when Hardus Viljoen dismissed Kamran Akmal for two runs. However, his opening mate Sharjeel Khan stayed there to accelerate the scoring rate for Pakistan Champions during his 76-run knock off just 44 balls. He smashed nine fours and four sixes in his brilliant knock, including 21 runs off Aaron Phangiso in the 13th over. During this costly over, Sharjeel hit two fours and two sixes to take Pakistan’s score from 101/2 to 123/2. In the 14th over, Viljoen once again rose to the occasion, trapping Sharjeel Khan in front of the wicket to end his knock. Later in the innings, Umar Amin also contributed with an unbeaten knock of 36 off just 19 balls, alongside Asif Ali (28), to help Pakistan Champs post 195/5 in the allotted 20 overs. SA Champs’ Hardus Vijoen was accompanied by Wayne Parnell (2/32), who took the big wickets of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik. Duanne Olivier dismissing Asif Alli also happened to be a crucial effort in restricting Pakistan from scoring a big total.
For South Africa Champions, AB de Villiers led the run chase single-handedly, with his outstanding and unbeaten knock of 120 runs off just 60 balls, with 12 fours and seven sixes. Firstly, he stitched an opening partnership of 72 runs with Hashim Amla (18) to set a strong foundation for his side. De Villiers launched his attack over Pakistan from the second over itself, smashing 16 runs off Imad Wasim’s bowling, hitting two consecutive sixes followed by a four on the last ball. He kept sending the ball out of the boundary at regular intervals to neutralise Pakistan’s bowling attack. After the dismissal of his opening mate Amla, de Villiers and JP Duminy stitched an unbeaten 125-run partnership for the second wicket, with the southpaw hitting a 28-ball half-century (50). His knock included a four and the winning six he smashed off Rumman Raees in the 17th over and helped SA Champs clinch the title, scoring 197/1 in just 16.5 overs.
De Villiers won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his match-winning century, and also bagged the ‘Player of the tournament’ award for his outstanding performances throughout the entire second edition.
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