AB de Villiers is hopeful that opening the batting in T20 internationals will help him improve his batting record in the format.

De Villiers smashed 71 from 29 balls at the Wanderers on Sunday to help South Africa win the second T20I against England by nine wickets.

Incredibly, De Villiers said it wasn’t his best performance in a T20 match.

I’ve had a few better T20 innings before but I’m a little bit short in T20 international runs,’ De Villiers admitted.

‘My record doesn’t look very good. I’m well aware of that so I really want to improve in that. I think opening the batting has given me the opportunity to do so. Hopefully for a long time. I want to improve that record and this performance was definitely a step in the right direction.’

Where he is best suited to bat in the shortest format of the game has been debated for years but, together with captain Faf du Plessis, they have settled on him opening the batting, especially in Indian conditions.

‘I didn’t start that well the first few overs, I didn’t feel comfortable at the wicket even though I got a few boundaries here and there,’ De Villiers said.

‘I only really started feeling comfortable with Chris Jordan’s over. I started moving a bit better at the crease. I guess it’s one of those days where things did go my way. A couple of balls did bounce in the right areas and then obviously a couple of big shots in between so I’m very happy about that.

‘I desperately wanted a not-out at the end,’ he said. ‘I was caught up in two minds. I wanted to have a go at the leg-spinner but I also wanted the not-out so I guess that was my downfall at the end of the day.’