AB de Villiers rocks! The South African 'superman' hits 43-ball century in IPL

New Delhi: AB de Villiers on Saturday hit the fifth fastest ever century in Indian Premier League history as the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman toyed with Gujarat Lions bowlers at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The South African reached the magic figures in just 43 balls, which included nine fours and eight sixes. The ninth season of the cash-rich league has witnessed de Villiers scoring run at will.

Today's knock was his fifth 50+ score for de Villiers this season — which is again most by him in an IPL season. He had scored a century and three fifties in 2009 IPL.

The fastest century is in 30 balls by RCB's Chris Gayle against erstwhile Pune Warriors India in 2013.

De Villiers also holds the records for the fastest 50 (16 balls), 100 (31 balls) and 150 (64 balls) of all time in One Day Internationals.

He thus became the fourth batsman to hit a ton this season, after Quinton de Kock, Virat Kohli (2) and David Warner.

In the same match, de Villiers also became the ninth batsman to reach the 3000-run mark.