5 batsmen with the highest boundary percentage in ODIs in 2018

The game of cricket is funny in its own ways. While a boundary eases things out for a batsman, the necessity of it increases the pressure. To gain success, especially in limited overs cricket, a batsman must know how to maintain a balance between boundaries, and the singles and twos.

In the 128 One-Day International matches played between 18 teams, a total of 4855 fours and 1117 sixes. The batsmen from England lead both the charts with 579 fours and 135 sixes. While West Indies are on second on the sixes list with 131 to their, India are second on fours list with 464 fours.

The reason why England and India, the top two sides in ODI cricket, are at the top of even these lists is the ability of their batsmen to hit boundaries more often than the rest. In this article, we take a look at the 5 batsmen who have scored most of their runs in terms of boundaries to help their teams put pressure on the opposition.

*Only batsmen with more than 500 ODI runs in 2018 were considered*

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#5 Jason Roy (England)- 57.94 %

Jason Roy

Jason Roy started the year of 2018 in a terrific fashion. In his very first match of the year, he scored 180 runs off just 151 balls to help England chased down Australia's total of 304 with ease. Roy then went onto score two more hundreds, also against Australia, later in the year.

In the year 2018. Roy scored a total of 894 runs of which 518 runs (98 fours and 21 sixes) came from boundaries. In the 22 innings that he opened the innings for England this year, he scored runs at an average of 40.63 at a strike of 105.05. He is one of the key players for the World No.1 ODI side and England will hope that the Surrey-batsman will continue the same form in the 2019 World Cup.

Matches: 22, Runs: 894, SR: 105.05, HS: 180, 4s: 98, 6s: 21.

#4 Mohammad Shahzad (Afghanistan)- 62.93%

Mohammad Shahzad

Of all the batsmen in the list, Mohammad Shahzad is an exception as he is the only one with a strike rate of less than 100. One of the reasons for this might be his preference to boundaries over strike rotation. For all those doubting his fitness, the hard-hitter from Jalalabad said that everyone cannot be like Kohli.

"Jitna lamba chakka woh (Kohli) maarte hain, main unse zyadaa maar saktaa hoon, zaroorat kya hain unki tarah itna diet karne ki (I can hit bigger sixes than Kohli so why do I need to follow his diet?)"

He has time and again silenced the critics questioning his over-weight issues by dishing out one match-winning performance after another. HIs best ODI performance of the year came against India at the Asia Cup.

Shahzad scored a 116-ball 124 to help Afghanistan post a total of 252 for 8 at the end of 50 overs. The match eventually ended in a tie but the overall performance should be a confidence boost to not only Shahzad but also the whole Afghanistan team.

Matches: 18, Runs: 607, SR: 81.47, HS: 124, 4s: 70, 6s: 17.

#3 Rohit Sharma (India)- 63.11%

Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma, the only batsman to score more than one double century in ODI cricket, did not score one this year but has two 150+ scores to his name. The Indian opener, known for his ability to time the innings to perfection, has scored five centuries in 2018 and has managed to remain unbeaten on three of those occasions.

The Mumbai batsman has hit the most sixes, 39, in 2018. In addition to that, he also hit 104 fours in 2018 which helped him score a total of 1030 runs. Rohit Sharma's five centuries this year came against four different oppositions- South Africa, England, Pakistan, and West Indies- with the most devastating ones coming against the Windies.

In the very first match of the ODI series against Windies, he scored an uneaten 152 off just 117 balls. Rohit hit as many as 15 fours and 8 sixes during that innings. His 246-run partnership with Virat Kohli for the second wicket helped India chase down a target of 323 in the 43rd over itself.

Matches: 19, Runs: 1030, SR: 100.09, HS: 162, 4s: 104, 6s: 39.

#2 Shikhar Dhawan (India)- 63.99%

Shikhar Dhawan

While Rohit Sharma topped the list of six-hitters, it is his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan who takes the top honors on the fours' list. This year, the southpaw scored a total of 897 runs of which 574 runs were from boundaries (127 fours and 11 sixes.) Dhawan has been sacked from the Test side but remains to be one of the most dangerous opening batsmen in ODI cricket.

In 2018, the Delhi batsman averages close to 50 and has scored three centuries against three different oppositions. The best of the three came against India's arch-rivals Pakistan at the Asia Cup. Opening the innings for India, Dhawan and Rohit added 210 runs for the first wicket. Dhawan's 100-ball 114 ensured that India chased down Pakistan's total with more than 10 overs to spare.

Matches: 19, Runs: 897, SR: 102.28, HS: 127, 4s: 127, 6s: 11.

#1 Jonny Bairstow (England)- 66.54%

Jonny Bairstow

Jonny Bairstow had a phenomenal year with the bat. Opening the innings, with Jason Roy he has time and again provided great starts to the No.1 ODI side in the world. He scored 1025 runs in 2018 that too at a massive strike rate of 118.22, the highest for any batsman this year. The Yorkshire batsman hit as many as 124 fours and 31 sixes this year.

In the 22 matches that he played this year, Bairstow has hit four centuries. The striking feature of these centuries is the strike rate - 130.18, 173.33, 177.96, and 151.08 - at which he scored them.

His 92-ball 139 against Australia at Nottingham helped England in registering the highest innings total in ODI history. Bairstow's two more than 150-run partnerships with Jason Roy and Alex Hales took England to a massive total of 481 at the end of 50 overs.

Matches: 22, Runs: 1025, SR: 118.22, HS: 139, 4s: 124, 6s: 31.