5 cricketers with highest number of fifties without a century in the ODI format

A lot of great cricketers are blessed with at least one century in the ODI format. While a lot of centuries mean that the player is highly talented and consistent and that the team can depend on him in tough times, it is not acceptable to call someone as talentless or less consistent just because a player could not score an ODI century.

There are some really good cricketers who could not score a century in the ODI format but contributed with the bat scoring some key half-centuries.

Here, we look at five cricketers who had the highest number of fifties but no centuries under their belt.

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#5 Michael Vaughan

Michael Vaughan is one of the all-time great openers for England. Though a regular feature of England's Test cricket team, he always struggled in the shorter format of the game. However, he was made the captain of the ODI team in 2003 and led the team from the front with some key half-centuries though he never scored a century.

Vaughan played in 86 ODI matches for England. He scored 1982 runs with an average of just 27.15. However, he scored 16 half-centuries.

His high score was 90 that came against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on 5th December, 2004. He remained not-out in that game.

4 of his 16 half-centuries have come against Australia and he remained not-out on two of those occasions with a high score of 86 against the Kangaroos.

#4 Kim Hughes

Kim Hughes

Kim Hughes is widely known as the first cricketer from Western Australia to ever lead the Australian team in Test cricket. He had a very tough time as the captain of Australian team and holds a very infamous record as the first captain to ever lose a Test game after enforcing follow-on.

Kim Hughes who featured in 97 ODIs for Australia scored 1968 runs with an average of just 24. Though he did not play longer innings in the shorter format of the game, he made some really good fifties.

He scored 17 half-centuries in ODIs but was never fortunate to get to the century. His high score was 98, which he scored against England at Birmingham in 1980.

#3 Graham Thorpe

Graham Thorpe

Graham Thorpe was the backbone of the England middle order for almost a decade. He was known for his elegant cover drives. He was also known as a terrific fielder who fielded at any position the skipper asked him to.

Thorpe featured in only 82 ODIs though he was a regular feature in the Test squad. In his short ODI career, he scored 2380 runs at an average of 37.19. Due to the fact that he batted in the middle order, he often did not get chances to spend more time in the crease to score a century. He was known to play quickly to get the team to a good total.

He ended up scoring 21 half-centuries without scoring a century. His high score of 89 came against Netherlands in 1996.

Thorpe scored 5 of his 21 half-centuries against the New Zealand with an average of 38.30.

#2 Andrew Jones

Andrew Jones

Andrew Jones made his debut for New Zealand when he was 28. When set, he was known to destroy even the world's best bowling attack. He played at No.3 for the most part of his career.

Jones is known for his record partnership of 467 in Test cricket with Martin Crowe against Sri Lanka in 1991. He played in 87 ODIs for the Kiwis and scored 2784 runs at an average of 35.69.

He never scored a century but in just 87 ODIs, he has scored 25 half-centuries with a high score of 93 against Bangladesh at Sharjah in 1990.

#1 Misbah-ul-Haq

Misbah against New Zealand

Misbah-ul-Haq is one of the greatest captains ever for Pakistan. He was praised highly for his temperament. He has always been consistent and the Pakistan middle-order heavily banked on his skills to get to a good score both in ODI and the Test format.

As a player who had a sound defensive technique, he was known for playing longer innings in the Test format that took away the energy out of the opposition bowlers. Misbah represented the country in 165 ODIs and scored 5122 runs at an average of 43.40.

He scored 42 half-centuries though he never hit a century. His high score of 96 came against the West Indies during the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. He remained unbeaten and unfortunately missed out on a century.

He always performed well consistently against Sri Lanka and West Indies against whom he has scored 10 and 9 half-centuries, respectively. As a true cricket fan, you cannot help but feel sad that a legend like Misbah could not taste the happiness of scoring a century.