'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
There was a time in ODI cricket when a 250-plus total was considered more than competitive. But snap to the present, and a team would be said to have underperformed if they put up a similar total. And that is the hard reality. No more than four fielders in the deep, batting power play, free-hits, advent of T20 – blimey! This gentlemen’s game has seen all kind of changes to make the rules tilt in favour of the batsmen, and the batsmen are only too happy to exploit those rules.The 50-over ODI format has seen 13 400-plus totals in its history, most of which have come in the recent past. Bowlers have started getting nightmares prior to every match. The 22-yard pitch has now turned into a batsman’s paradise. Batting strike rates have become the USP of players world-wide.With so much emphasis on scoring rate and AB de Villiers’ blockbuster innings today, it is only appropriate that we take a look at five of the most destructive ODI innings in the history of the game, in terms of batting strike rate:(Note: Only 100-plus have been considered in this list)
#5 Shahid Afridi - 102 (Strike Rate: 221) vs India, 2005
There can be no bigger occasion than a clash against an arch-rival and they don’t come any bigger than Pakistan vs India. At Kanpur, in 2005, Afridi launched a brutal attack against India in their own backyard.
The gutsy knock, amidst a sea of blue, saw him score 102 off 46 balls at a strike rate of over 221. The innings, in which he smacked 10 fours and 9 sixes, steered his team to victory during the chase of a target of 250.
This will indeed be one of the most memorable matches (for Pakistan, at least) in the India-Pakistan rivarly.
#4 AB de Villiers - 162* (Strike Rate: 245.45) vs West Indies, 2015
AB de Villiers never stays in the shadows too long. This knock of his, which came at the game’s most prestigious stage – the World Cup 2015 – made the West Indies bowlers feel helpless.
He finished at a strike rate of 245.45 and ended up with a score of 162 not out off 66 deliveries. This also happens to be the most destructive batting display in a World Cup match.
South Africa, powered by this knock, scored 408 in 50 overs and defeated the Windies by a huge margin of 257 runs. This assault of 162* also saw the fastest 150 being scored, off 64 balls.
#3 Shahid Afridi - 102 (Strike Rate: 255) vs Sri Lanka, 1996
Shahid ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi, Pakistan’s demolition man with the bat, is still considered the game’s longest serving attacker. Bowlers, even today, tremble in fear before running in to bowl to this 34-year-old Pakistani.
In a 1996 match, played at Gymkhana Club Ground, Nairobi against Sri Lanka, Afridi produced this incredible knock which included 11 hits over the ropes, at strike rate of 255. The marauding batsman, who uses his bat as a weapon of mass destruction, scripted a century in 37 balls during an age when big-hitting was not that common.
He clung on to the record of the fastest ever century for close to 18 years before it was broken in 2014.
#2 Corey Anderson - 131* (Strike Rate: 278.72) vs West Indies, 2014
The 24-year-old New Zealand pinch-hitter Corey Anderson, always known for his power striking, lifted himself to a new level and crafted the second fastest century in January 2014 – off just 36 balls! This was actually the fastest century before it was broken earlier this year.
The innings came during a relatively less important bi-lateral series match against West Indies at Queenstown. The match was curtailed to a 21-over encounter due to rain, and Anderson took full toll of the T20-like scenario, scoring an unbeaten 131 off just 47 balls at a strike rate of 278.72.
New Zealand racked up a mammoth score of 283 in their 21 overs, and eventually won the match by a comfortable margin of 159 runs.
#1 AB de Villiers - 149 (Strike Rate: 338.6) vs West Indies, 2015
Hailed as the most destructive batsman in the world of cricket at present, often a statistician’s fury and a fan’s merry, the Proteas skipper AB de Villiers scored the fastest ever century in a meager 31 deliveries against West Indies in January 2015 at Johannesburg.
This dangerous dynamo belted the West Indies bowlers all over the park in an innings that saw South Africa pile up a massive total of 439 in 50 overs. ABD, as he is fondly known, amassed 149 runs off 44 balls in total, leaving permanent scars on the psyches of the West Indian bowlers.
This was truly a special innings, as he went about his business at an unbelievable strike rate of 338.63.
