WELLINGTON – South Africa’s AB de Villiers has overtaken former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly to become the fastest cricketer to score 9,000 runs in one-day internationals (ODI) during the third ODI against New Zealand in Wellington on Saturday.
De Villiers is the 18th player and second South African behind Jacques Kallis to reach the 9,000 mark but has the highest average of 53.86 and also boasts the best strike-rate – an incredible 99.94.
The South African batsman reached the landmark with a pull shot for four from Lockie Ferguson shortly after arriving at the crease.
De Villiers’ highest ODI score is an unbeaten 162 against the West Indies two years ago.
The South Africa skipper holds plenty of records in ODIs. He holds the record for the fastest fifty, the fastest 100 and the fastest 150. De Villiers blasted the fastest fifty off just 16 balls and a hundred off just 31 balls against West Indies in Johannesburg in 2015 while he blasted the fastest 150 off just 64 balls also against the West Indies in the 2015 World Cup game in Sydney.
The 33-year-old knocked off former India captain Sourav Ganguly’s record of 228 innings, getting to the milestone in 205 innings – a stunning 23 innings fewer than Ganguly.
De Villiers began the tour of New Zealand needing 87 runs to hit the 9,000-run mark and put together an unbeaten 37 in the series opener in Hamilton, hitting the winning runs to take his side to a one-nil lead.
In the second ODI between South Africa and New Zealand at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, De Villiers had made 45.
India’s current skipper Virat Kohli has a ODI run-tally of 7,755 from 171 innings, meaning he needs to score 245 runs in his next 10 innings to break the current 8,000 run mark of 182 innings – held by none other than AB de Villiers, his Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate in the Indian Premier League.
Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has the most ODI runs with 18,426 at an average of 44.83 with a strike rate of 86.23.
