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De Villiers looks back on finest hour

Proteas marvel reflects on epic hundred against the Australians, which turned the series in the hosts' favour

South African superstar AB de Villiers has rated last month's series-defining hundred against Australia in Port Elizabeth as "one of my best ever".

With the Proteas 0-1 down and facing the prospect of a first-innings deficit in the second Test, de Villiers seized control of the contest with a breathtaking counter-attacking knock, hammering an unbeaten 126 from just 146 deliveries to turn the tide and put South Africa in a position of dominance that they would not relinquish.

It was vintage de Villiers, the sort of performance many doubted the 34-year-old was still capable of, given he hadn't scored a Test hundred in the three years prior.

One of the best hundreds I've seen: Smith

Ex-Proteas skipper Graeme Smith later told cricket.com.au the century was "one of the best hundreds I've seen live – just the situation of the game, the way that he played – he made it look like a different game out there … his ability to play at the tempo he did, really changed the face of the game".

Reflecting from India during his time with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, de Villiers echoed Smith's sentiments.

"Sometimes you don't quite realise what you have achieved until you look back," he told The Guardian.

"We were about to collapse like we had in Durban and it was, 'Here we go again'. So to get through that and score a special hundred that helped the team to victory was unbelievable. It was one of my best ever.

Brilliant de Villiers notches ton, swings contest

"It's not often you get into that kind of zone batting either. I just felt so calm at the wicket. It's so strange, your head just goes quiet sometimes. Days like that don't come around very often, so you have to enjoy it."

What makes AB de Villiers so special?

The right-hander has produced some spectacular innings in his career to date, including the fastest century and fastest 150 in ODI history, and has reached three figures 47 times in international cricket (22 in Tests, 25 in ODIs).

But the significance of his Port Elizabeth effort – given South Africa had not beaten Australia in a home Test series in the post-Apartheid era – has propelled it to the top handful of de Villiers' efforts.

"I'm honestly always fired up when I play against Australia," he said at the time, having scored his sixth Test ton against Australia, the most by any South African.

"I've said it before – growing up it's always the team we wanted to beat as South Africans.

"So from a very young age, five or six, it was always South Africa-Australia, that's the main game.

"I'm always very motivated playing against these guys."

Most Test hundreds v Australia

12: JB Hobbs (Eng)

11: SR Tendulkar (Ind)

9: DI Gower (Eng), WR Hammond (Eng), BC Lara (WI), RB Richardson (WI)

8: SM Gavaskar (Ind), H Sutcliffe (Eng)

7: G Boycott (Eng), JH Edrich (Eng), M Leyland (Eng)

6: AB de Villiers (SA), HA Gomes (WI), Ijaz Ahmed (Pak), Javed Miandad (Pak), V Kohli (Ind), VVS Laxman (Ind), CH Lloyd (WI)