AB de Villiers calls on Proteas to 'fight fire-with-fire' against Aussies in Lord's World Test final

South African legend AB de Villiers has called on the Proteas to “fight fire with fire” when they face defending champions Australia in the upcoming World Test Championship final at Lord’s.

The two arch-rivals go head-to-head in the five-day showpiece in London, starting on June 11. 

De Villiers was famed during his illustrious career for taking down the Aussies, most notably scoring a sublime 106 not out to help the Proteas chase a record 414 in the first Test in Perth in 2008. It played a significant role in the Proteas securing their first-ever Test series win Down Under.

The former skipper also played a defiant role in salvaging an inspirational draw four years later when spent 246 minutes (just over four hours) and faced 220 balls at the crease alongside his good friend Faf du Plessis as the Proteas held on in the second Test at Adelaide. De Villiers followed it up with a masterful 169 in the next Test at the Waca in Perth for the Proteas to seal successive series wins in Australia.

However, De Villiers kept his best for his swansong Test series, when he held the Proteas innings together with a masterful 126 not out in the second Test at St George’s Park to set up the series leveller in Gqberha. The Proteas went on to record their first-ever Test series win over the Aussies post isolation.

Now De Villiers is backing the Class of 2025 to produce their own piece of history at Lord’s.

“The Aussies are ruthless. They come out hard, fighting. They have a very specific brand of playing cricket and winning matches of cricket. They're never out of the fight," De Villiers told an ICC podcast.

“I think that's the most important thing against Australia. When you get an opportunity to dominate, to really grab a hold of that momentum and make sure you make it count. I've always found the best way to play against them is to fight fire with fire. It doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work for everyone.

“Individually, I felt that that's the best way to approach it. As I was a bit more of an introvert when it comes to expressing myself verbally out there on the cricket park. But with my body language, I always felt like I needed to stand up against them, against the bowling unit.

“And to send a message across to say, I am here to play the game and to challenge you as well. 

“For the Proteas, sending that message to us as soon as possible in the WTC final is going to be incredibly important. To put the peg in the ground and when you do get a bit of momentum behind you to run at full speed.

De Villiers believes the Proteas have plenty of match-winners that can change the course of a Test.

“If there's one thing that you shouldn't be doing against a South African team, that is to underestimate them and to put their backs up against the wall, because that is when you see the best of them. Very resilient unit, and I believe they will be resilient over there at Lord’s,” he said. 

“They have a lot of match-winners, a lot of young, exciting talent in that mix. I think a few nice leaders as well, you know, Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma …

“Marco Jansen can even consider himself as a senior player these days, and they just seem to lead with a lot of inspiration, which I really enjoy.”

However, De Villiers feels that the defending champions have an edge as they are more battle-hardened with the Aussies boasting plenty of experience in the form of Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood. 

“Yeah, I think to all of our surprise, the Proteas have managed to qualify for the final,” he said.

“I say surprise because I feel there are more experienced, more well-willed machine teams out there, like Australia. It's the teams that have the most experience with regards to the five-day Test match format that come out on top consistently. I feel the Proteas are lacking a little bit in that area. 

“But they have found a way to create something incredibly special within that team with a lot of youngsters, a lot of inexperienced players. They've managed to gel together and find a culture that seems to be working nicely.”