The unorthodox ramp shot which brought up the hundred for AB de Villiers is our Play of the Day.

He arched his back and angled his bat perfectly, helping the short ball from Pat Cummins on its way with a little flick of the wrist, over the slips and on to the ropes for four.

It was significant on so many levels, apart from being an audacious, superbly executed shot.

It brought up De Villiers’ first hundred in 13 matches, or 24 innings, since his 148 against the West Indies in Cape Town in January 2015.

That momentous shot also summed up how much in control he was, and had been since he came in with South Africa in the precarious position of 155-4, which became even more precarious at 168-6.

But De Villiers stood like a colossus, although Keshav Maharaj – who had designs of his own – struck 30 off 24 balls and almost undermined his efforts with an injudicious shot which was caught on the boundary. But Usman Khawaja had stepped over the ropes and he lived to fight on.

De Villiers added 26 runs off 28 balls to end unbeaten on 126, marshalling a tail that added 155 for the last three wickets and gave South Africa a first-innings lead of 139.

Photo: Deryck Foster/BackpagePix