AB de Villiers slams fastest century and half-century in ODI history

AB de Villiers celebrates after reaching his half-century

AB de Villiers has broken the record for the fastest 50 and 100 in ODI history, after slamming a half-century in 16 balls and getting to his century in just 31 balls in the 2nd ODI against West Indies on Sunday.

In the process, he bettered the previous record for the fastest 50 which was held by Sanath Jayasuriya who had hit a fifty in 17 balls against Pakistan in 1996. When de Villiers reached his ton, he beat Corey Anderson’s record, who had hit a century in 36 balls last year. Anderson’s century also came against the West Indies.

Earlier in the day, the West Indies had won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, which is known to assist batsmen. The South African opening duo of Hashim Amla and Rilee Rossouw got the hosts off to a brilliant start, putting on a 247-run partnership, which is a record for the highest opening partnership for South Africa in ODIs.

Promoting himself up the order, de Villiers didn’t take any time to settle in as he hit 28 runs in the first 8 deliveries he faced. After that, there was no looking back for the South African skipper as he smashed the West Indian bowlers all over the Bull Ring.

De Villiers finished his innings with 149 off just 44 balls, at an unbelievable strike-rate of 338.63. He hit 9 fours and 16 sixes during his knock.

Fastest ODI centuries

Batsman	Balls Faced	Opponent	Year
AB de Villiers	31	West Indies	2015
Corey Anderson	36	West Indies	2014
Shahid Afridi	37	Sri Lanka	1996
Mark Boucher	44	Zimbabwe	2006
Brian Lara	45	Bangladesh	1999

Fastest ODI half-centuries

Batsman	Balls Faced	Opponent	Year
AB de Villiers	16	West Indies	2015
Sanath Jayasuriya	17	Pakistan	1996
Simon O'Donnell	18	Sri Lanka	1990
Shahid Afridi	18	Sri Lanka	1996
Shahid Afridi	18	Netherlands	2002
Glenn Maxwell	18	India	2013
Shahid Afridi	18	Bangladesh	2014