5 cricketers who carried their teams at World Cups but ended the tournament with heartbreak

#5 AB de Villiers (2015 World Cup)

An emitional AB looks on during the match against New Zealand

Freak, genius, brilliant, many accolades have been accorded to AB de Villiers during his career and in the 2015 World Cup, all these seemed to be true. Leading his side into the tournament, de Villiers took it upon himself to win the trophy for his country.

In the 7 innings he played in the tournament, AB scored 482 runs at a whopping average of 96.40. He even picked up 4 wickets in the tournament.

However, the innings which defined de Villiers was his innings against the West Indies where he smashed the fastest 150 in ODIs. He finished with 162* off 66, and South Africa plundered 261 runs in the last 20 overs.

In the crucial semi-finals against New Zealand, the Proteas skipper scored a 45-ball 65 and helped South Africa get to 281 runs in 43 overs. This was not going to be enough in the end, and Grant Elliot sent New Zealand into a frenzy as he smacked Dale Steyn for a six in the penultimate over of the match.

AB could not hold back his tears as the World Cup dream was brought to a sudden and rather rude halt.