<p>South Africa one-day cricket captain AB de Villiers said today that just as batsmen always wanted to make a hundred so too did he hope that Nelson Mandela reached a century of birthdays.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Worldwide concerns have been mounting for the health of Mandela after South Africa's first black president, revered for his transformational role in guiding the country from apartheid to multi-racial democracy, spent a second day in hospital on Sunday with a lung infection.<br /><br />It is the fourth hospital stay since December for the Nobel peace prize laureate, set to turn 95 next month, after he was discharged in April following treatment for pneumonia.<br />"He's a legend in our country," de Villiers, speaking at the Edgbaston cricket ground in Birmingham, central England, where South Africa play Pakistan in a Champions Trophy one-day international match on Monday, said of Mandela.<br /><br />"He obviously turned things around for our beautiful nation.<br /><br />"I just hope he gets better very soon. We all know he's quite old. I think he's 95 right now, and I've still got a few years to get there, but I can only imagine it's not too easy moving around at that age," the 29-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman added.<br /><br />"But I wish him well and I hope he recovers really soon, and he can maybe still make a difference in our country in the next few years to come, and maybe even get that big 100 when it comes to birthdays. So we're hoping he gets better soon."</p>
<p>South Africa one-day cricket captain AB de Villiers said today that just as batsmen always wanted to make a hundred so too did he hope that Nelson Mandela reached a century of birthdays.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Worldwide concerns have been mounting for the health of Mandela after South Africa's first black president, revered for his transformational role in guiding the country from apartheid to multi-racial democracy, spent a second day in hospital on Sunday with a lung infection.<br /><br />It is the fourth hospital stay since December for the Nobel peace prize laureate, set to turn 95 next month, after he was discharged in April following treatment for pneumonia.<br />"He's a legend in our country," de Villiers, speaking at the Edgbaston cricket ground in Birmingham, central England, where South Africa play Pakistan in a Champions Trophy one-day international match on Monday, said of Mandela.<br /><br />"He obviously turned things around for our beautiful nation.<br /><br />"I just hope he gets better very soon. We all know he's quite old. I think he's 95 right now, and I've still got a few years to get there, but I can only imagine it's not too easy moving around at that age," the 29-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman added.<br /><br />"But I wish him well and I hope he recovers really soon, and he can maybe still make a difference in our country in the next few years to come, and maybe even get that big 100 when it comes to birthdays. So we're hoping he gets better soon."</p>