NEW DELHI: AB de Villiers put his Indian Premier League experience to good use Thursday when he led South Africa to a comfortable seven-wicket World Cup win over the West Indies. De Villiers smashed an unbeaten 107 and shared a crucial third wicket partnership of 119 with captain Graeme Smith as his side surpassed the West Indies' total of 222 with 43 balls to spare. The 27-year-old said his time with local IPL side Delhi Daredevils had allowed him to share vital inside information with Smith on the playing conditions at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. De Villiers hit the fastest ever World Cup century by a South African with his landmark coming off 97 balls. Smith, who has been nursing a cold, made a dogged 45 off 78 balls and said he was happy with his team's overall performance. “Winning the toss was nice, we started well. Darren Bravo (73) played really well, but we managed to peg it back in the middle,” he said. West Indies captain Darren Sammy was disappointed with his team's batting after it had stood at 113-1 at one stage. “We had an opportunity to get a lot more runs. We needed someone to play like AB did,” he said. South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir was also celebrating after enjoying a four-wicket debut, but his World Cup bow was almost shattered by a double warning for running on the pitch. The 31-year-old Pakistan-born player claimed 4-41 but Australian umpire Simon Taufel twice warned him about straying onto the pitch. A third warning would have seen him pulled out of the attack. “I'm not comfortable bowling away from the stumps, but I'm working hard on it,” said Tahir “I want to get it right. I don't want to get a third warning and not be able to bowl.” Tahir, who was born in Lahore and has married a South African girl, dismissed Devon Smith, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Thomas and Shivnarine Chanderpaul in his 10-over spell. Hameed banned, fined The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has fined discarded Test opener Yasir Hameed 300,000 rupees ($3,600) and banned him from two domestic tournaments after a controversial interview with the News of the World newspaper. A PCB official told Reuters that Hameed had been disciplined after telling an undercover reporter from the British newspaper that Pakistan players had been involved in spot-fixing. Hameed, 32, told the PCB that he had been trapped by the newspaper and had talked to the reporter under the impression he was a businessman who wanted to sign him for an endorsement deal. Former Test captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have been banned for a minimum of five years after they were found guilty of spot-fixing by an International Cricket Council anti-corruption tribunal.
