Fastest 50s for and against each team in ODIs

Kusal Perera enters into record books

Kusal Perera smashed 50 off just 17 balls against Pakistan at Pallekele in the second ODI of the 5-match series which is the joint fastest for Sri Lanka, joint fastest against Pakistan and the joint second fastest in the history of ODIs.

Eventually, he fell after having scored 68 in 25 balls and setting the path to chase the target of 288 in 50 overs. He went to the pavilion in the 9th over with 92 runs on the scoreboard.

The only half-century that came in fewer than 17 balls is AB de Villiers’ in 16 balls in his inning of 149 off 44 balls against West Indies at Johannesburg on January 18, 2015. Sanath Jayasuriya also scored a 17-ball 50 against Pakistan at Singapore on April 7, 1996 which was unequalled and unbroken for nearly 20 years but in this year within a span of about 6 months there have been one quicker 50 and one 50 as quicker as Jayasuriya’s. Well, there may be more such quick innings in coming years.

On the occasion of Kusal Perera’s joint fastest 50 for Sri Lanka and joint fastest 50 against Pakistan, let’s list the fastest 50s for each of the ten test playing teams in ODIs and also the fastest against each of those.

Fastest 50s for each test playing team in ODIs

Team	Balls	Batsman	Score	Against	Venue	Date
Australia	18	Simon O'Donnell	74 (29)	Sri Lanka	Sharjah	02-May-90
	18	Glenn Maxwell	60 (22)	India	Bangalore	02-Nov-13
Bangladesh	21	Mohammad Ashraful	94 (52)	England	Nottingham	21-Jun-05
	21	Abdur Razzak	53* (22)	Zimbabwe	Bulawayo	05-May-13
England	24	Paul Collingwood	54* (30)	New Zealand	Napier	20-Feb-08
India	21	Ajit Agarkar	67* (25)	Zimbabwe	Rajkot	14-Dec-00
New Zealand	18	Brendon McCullum	77* (25)	England	Wellington	20-Feb-15
Pakistan	18	Shahid Afridi	102 (40)	Sri Lanka	Nairobi	04-Oct-96
	18	Shahid Afridi	55* (18)	Netherlands	Colombo (SSC)	21-Sep-02
	18	Shahid Afridi	59 (25)	Bangladesh	Mirpur	04-Mar-14
South Africa	16	AB de Villiers	149 (44)	West Indies	Johannesburg	18-Jan-15
Sri Lanka	17	Sanath Jayasuriya	76 (28)	Pakistan	Singapore	07-Apr-96
	17	Kusal Perera	68 (25)	Pakistan	Pallekele	15-Jul-15
West Indies	20	Darren Sammy	58* (24)	South Africa	North Sound	24-May-10
	20	Darren Sammy	84 (50)	Australia	Gros Islet	25-Mar-12
Zimbabwe	21	Doug Marillier	56* (24)	Zimbabwe	Faridabad	07-Mar-02

• Shahid Afridi has scored 3 50s in 18 balls – fastest for Pakistan. In fact, the first nine fastest 50s for Pakistan are all by him – a unique distinction!
• Apart from Shahid Afridi, Brendon McCullum and Darren Sammy are the only batsmen to have their team’s top two fastest 50s to their name.
• The fastest 50s for India is still by Ajit Agarkar in 21 balls. Kapil Dev, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh all scored 50s in 22 balls.
• Doug Marillier’s 50s came while batting at number 10 that won his team the game by 1 wicket.
• Abdur Razzak’s was at number nine.
• During Jayasuriya’s inning, his opening partner Romesh Kaluwitharana had scored no runs off 11 balls and when he was dismissed the team’s score was 70 for 1.
• AB de Villiers went on to break the record of fastest century as well, in 31 balls.
• England is the only team for which no batsman has scored 50 in less than 22 balls.
• Shahid Afridi scored 50 off 18 balls and 100 off 37 balls in his first ODI inning in his second match.

Fastest 50s against each Test playing team in ODIs

Against	Balls	Batsman	Score	For	Venue	Date
Australia	20	Darren Sammy	84 (50)	West Indies	Gros Islet	25-Mar-12
Bangladesh	18	Shahid Afridi	59 (25)	Pakistan	Mirpur	04-Mar-14
England	18	Brendon McCullum	77* (25)	New Zealand	Wellington	20-Feb-15
India	18	Glenn Maxwell	60 (22)	Australia	Bangalore	02-Nov-13
New Zealand	19	Shahid Afridi	65 (25)	Pakistan	Christchurch	29-Jan-11
Pakistan	17	Sanath Jayasuriya	76 (28)	Sri Lanka	Singapore	07-Apr-96
	17	Kusal Perera	68 (25)	Sri Lanka	Pallekele	15-Jul-15
South Africa	20	Shahid Afridi	77* (35)	Pakistan	Durban	07-Feb-07
Sri Lanka	18	Simon O'Donnell	74 (29)	Australia	Sharjah	02-May-90
	18	Shahid Afridi	102 (40)	Pakistan	Nairobi	04-Oct-96
West Indies	16	AB de Villiers	149 (44)	South Africa	Johannesburg	18-Jan-15
Zimbabwe	19	Justin Kemp	53* (21)	South Africa	Durban	27-Feb-05

• Shahid Afridi has the fastest 50s against four teams – Bangladesh, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
• Australia and South Africa are the only teams against which no batsman has scored 50 in less than 20 balls.
• Sanath Jayasuriya and Kusal Perera scored 50 in 17 balls while no other batsman across all countries has scored 50 in even 25 balls!