Batsmen with most 'daddy hundreds' in ODI cricket

Daddy hundreds are hard to come by in ODI cricket. After all, an entire innings has to be wrapped up within 50 overs. Openers get the most opportunities to score big hundreds. If we classify daddy hundreds in ODIs as 150 plus scores, we will be left with very few such innings. There have only been 90 scores of 150 or more in all ODI cricket.The most number of balls faced was 201 by Glenn Turner, which comes to about 33 overs and three balls way back in 1975 when an ODI innings comprised of 60 overs. Rohit Sharma’s great ODI innings of 264 took 173 balls, the most in the 50 over format, close to 29 overs. That clearly shows why only 90 scores were managed by batsmen. Getting the time and the opportunity in itself is rare and then making it count makes it rarer.Rohit Sharma has already made a name for himself when it comes to scoring daddy hundreds in ODIs and his innings in the 1st ODI, albeit on the losing side, against Australia, the highest individual ODI score against them in Australia, has sparked this piece.We take a look at batsmen with most number of 150 plus scores in ODI cricket and there’ll hardly be many surprises at the top.

#9 Hashim Amla 3

Amla is the fastest to 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 and 6000 ODI runs and looking at the breath-taking pace is likely to continue this record-breaking spree in terms of ODI innings. He is one of the select few batsmen with a 50+ average in ODI cricket having scored 6008 runs in 126 ODIs at 52.

He already has 21 centuries, 3 of which are 150+ scores, with one each against Ireland, West Indies and England. Given his conversion rate and the speed at which he scores runs at the top of the batting order, Amla is sure to rise higher in this list.

#8 Andrew Strauss 3

Strauss is not one to be associated with swashbuckling ODI batting. Nevertheless, the left-handed opener who captained England through one of their more successful phases managed 4205 runs in just 127 ODIs with 6 centuries. It is amazing to note that 50% of those centuries was a 150+ score, showing his ability to score big when set.

Two of Strauss’ 150+ scores came against Bangladesh while one came against India in an epic chase at Bangalore in the 2011 World Cup in a match that ended as a tie.

#7 Brian Lara - 3

Brian Lara is right up there next to Don Bradman and Kumar Sangakkara, when it comes to double tons in Test cricket. In ODIs, the extremely charismatic West Indian left-hander managed 3 150+ scores in 299 ODIs with a best of 169 against Sri Lanka at Sharjah. Another of his 150s also came at Sharjah against Pakistan two years prior to the 169.

Lara scored 10405 runs in all in his 299 ODIs, one of the rare batsmen to cross 10000 runs in both Tests and ODIs, with 19 centuries and 63 half-centuries.

#6 TM Dilshan 3

Dilshan was a late starter but he did make it count when he got his chance. The swashbuckling Sri Lankan opener has a best of 161*, with 2 of the 150+ scores coming against India and another coming against Bangladesh. His 160 against India was the most epic knock of those three, in a great chase where Sri Lanka fell short of India’s mammoth total of 414 by just three runs. Dilshan managed to feature in 327 ODIs despite starting late and has recently crossed the hallowed 10000 run mark in ODIs along with 106 wickets as well.

#5 Viv Richards 3

The original master blaster was a generation ahead of his time as can be deduced from the fact that he averaged 47 in ODIs with a strike-rate of 90.20 playing at a time when a strike-rate of 75 in ODIs was considered brilliant. Of his 11 centuries in 187 ODIs, 3 were 150+ scores including the two mammoth tons of 189* and 181 which came at a time when a century in an ODI was an unbelievable feat.

The 189 in particular was a great innings because the next highest in that innings by a West Indian batsman was 26. Richards scored 189 in just 170 balls, a strike-rate admirable even now, 30 years later. The 181 came in the 1987 World Cup against Sri Lanka.

#4 Sanath Jayasuriya 4

The man who held the record for the fastest ODI century and half-century for a long while made 200 look an easy possibility in an ODI innings at a time when it was still a feared number. However, he fell on 189 against India with the double ton eerily close and with a lot of time left in the innings. Jayasuriya was one of ODI cricket’s greatest all-rounders with more than 13000 runs to go with 323 wickets. Of the 28 centuries, he smashed four 150+ scores, all of them away from home, to his credit.

#3 Chris Gayle 4

The dashing West Indian played ODIs with the same level of sensation as he did in T20 cricket, almost reaching the elusive 10000 run mark if not for the fallout with the West Indian Cricket Board. Gayle has an impressive 22 centuries, 4 of which were 150+ scores. Gayle has a double ton too, scored against Zimbabwe in the 2015 World Cup. Very surprisingly, Gayle is nowhere close to the top strike-rates in 150+ scores, with his fastest 150+ score coming at 145.

#2 Rohit Sharma 4

Rohit Sharma has 4 daddy hundreds in just 144 ODIs compared to Chris Gayle and Jayasuriya, who scored their four 150+ scores in 269 and 445 ODIs respectively. Sachin scored his 5 in 463 ODIs, which means Rohit has a very good shot at not only equalling but also breaking Sachin’s record. What is more, Rohit also has two double centuries, one of only five double centurions in ODI cricket and the only one to do it twice.

Rohit has 38 sixes, the most in 150+ innings, way ahead, surprisingly of Gayle who has 22. Rohit also has 71 fours with a good chance of eclipsing Sachin’s mark. Sadly though, two of Rohit’s five 150+ scores have come in defeats – his 171* against Australia in India’s first ODI of 2016 and 152 against South Africa in the latter’s recent tour.

Rohit is closing in on 5000 runs with 36 fifty plus scores in 138 innings, an impressive number for a batsman who plays at the pace that he does.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar - 5

The man with most Test and ODI runs and centuries is the big daddy of daddy hundreds. Sachin leads this list with 5 150 plus scores including a double ton, when he became the first man to break the 200 barrier in ODIs. With scores of 200* (South Africa), 186* (New Zealand), 175 (Australia), 163* (New Zealand) and 152 (Namibia), Sachin showed that one can score big tons consistently in ODIs, especially taking advantage of the fielding restrictions in early 90s before Jayasuriya’s advent.

Four of these five came against Test playing nations to his credit and only one, 175, came in a losing cause in a great and tragic chase by the Indians. Sachin also has most fours in all innings of 150 and more, 98, with Jayasuriya at second with 82.