DHAKA: AB de Villiers ripped up the record books with the fastest century in ODIs, off just 31 balls, as South Africa smashed their own record at the Wanderers and racked up 439, four shy of the world record of 443.

The world record was made by Villiers in the second ODI match against West Indies at Johannesburg on Sunday.

Earlier, West Indies won the toss and elected to field.

De Villiers' was the third hundred in a towering South African total which also saw Rilee Rossouw register his maiden hundred and Hashim Amla his 18th, in the highest opening stand South Africa have ever posted of 247, reports espncricinfo.com.

De Villiers was only at the crease from the 39th over, when Amla had collected a cool 120 off 112 balls. Amla faced just 30 more deliveries and added 33 to his total, an indication of how de Villiers' dominated the last 10 overs and spared none of the West Indian bowlers.

He pounced on everything from slower balls to full tosses, and there were plenty of the latter and showed off his full range of strokes. There was the pull, the scoop, the lofted drive and the good old slog but most effective of all was the way de Villiers targeted the opposition captain.

Jason Holder was hardest hit as de Villiers plundered 45 runs off the nine balls he faced from him, including six of his sixes, as he raced past the previous hundred mark of 36 balls set by Corey Anderson on January 1 last year.

BDST: 1912 HRS, JAN 18, 2015