AB de Villiers has revealed that he was thinking about breaking the record for fastest century in one-day internationals before crossing the line in South Africa's remarkable triumph over the West Indies.

The Proteas captain set a new benchmark in the format by reaching three figures than Corey Anderson's 36-ball ton last year, and he continued to delight the crowd in Johannesburg before departing for 149 from just 44 balls.

"I had a lot of time to warm up in changing room," De Villiers told reporters. "I did a lot of walks up and down thinking of how I should be playing.

"I sort of played my knock even before I went out to bat and the word aggression was probably the thing for me today. I wanted to go from the word go.

"I was never sure how many balls it was that Corey Anderson took to get to 100 but I knew I had to be close and I wasn't going to take ones in the 90s."

The West Indies could only reach 291-7 in reply to South Africa's 439-2, which was just five runs short of the highest total in ODI cricket.