De Villiers (162 off 66) clubbed the second-fastest World Cup century and the fastest 150 of all time as the Proteas amassed 5 for 408, before South Africa skittled the Caribbean side for a paltry 151.

Imran Tahir starred with the ball for South Africa, taking career-best figures of 5 for 45 as the West Indies wilted under the pressure of the highest ODI total ever hit on Australian soil, as well as the second-highest in World Cup history.

Chris Gayle, who hit the first-ever World Cup double century against Zimbabwe, was bowled by Kyle Abbott (2 for 37) for just 3 as the West Indies' task went from improbable to impossible.

While there was late resistance from tailender Jason Holder (56), only three other batsmen - Dwayne Smith for 31, Dinesh Ramdin for 22 and Jonathan Carter for 10 - made double figures in the West Indies batting line-up in an awful display.

But the match will forever be remembered by de Villiers' batting exploits, which rescued his side's innings from stalling at the half-way mark.

After Quinton de Kock's dismissal in the sixth over for 12, Hashim Amla (65) and Faf du Plessis (62) set about establishing South Africa's innings with a patient approach, before the run-rate began to increase towards the 20-over mark.

But Gayle, fresh from his historic double-century against Zimbabwe, struck twice in one over to remove both the established batsmen.

That only brought de Villiers and youngster Rilee Rossouw (61) to the crease as they looked to keep the scoreboard ticking over, and accelerated the run-rate past the West Indies' control in a delightful 134-run partnership for the fourth wicket at over 10 runs an over.

Rossouw was eventually caught behind off Andre Russell's bowling, but David Miller (20), who smashed a ton against Zimbabwe in the Proteas' opening match, came in as support to de Villiers, who notched his ton in 52 balls - the second fastest in World Cup history.

De Villiers' innings featured 17 fours and eight sixes in total.

Miller's innings ended with three overs still to play, as his big drive was pouched with a brilliant one-hander by Jerome Taylor on the long-on boundary, but there was still time for Farhaan Behardien (10 off 5) to share in a lightning-quick 50-run partnership.

De Villiers was merciless against Holder, smashing four sixes and a four in the final over for 30 runs.

"A very enjoyable knock today, I thought the foundations the boys did up front allowed us to free up later on," de Villiers said at the conclusion of the first innings.

"It was one of those knocks that I love. Everything bounced my way, a little bit of luck today and I made it count."