AB de Villiers is considered to be one of the most talented cricketers to ever grace the game. In his 14-year career, the former South African skipper went toe-to-toe against legends like Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, and Ricky Ponting, as well as modern-day greats Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson.
Despite the tough competition, the batter was always on par with them, if not ahead. He delivered one such performance on this day in 2015 that will forever etch his name in cricket history.
OTD in 2015: AB de Villiers scored the fastest 50 and 100 in ODI cricket
The Proteas legend smashed the West Indies and multiple records in Johannesburg on January 18, 2015. Coming in to bat with South Africa way ahead in the game at 247/1, Ab de Villiers set the tone right away. He smacked his first ball in the middle for a four and started his onslaught.
From then on, it felt like AB de Villiers was playing a video game. He reached his fifty in just 16 balls, breaking Sanath Jayasuriya’s record for the fastest fifty in ODI cricket (17 balls). But he was far from done.
He outdid himself and scored the next fifty runs in just 15 balls, breaking Corey Anderson’s (36 balls) record for the fastest 100 in ODI cricket by doing so in five fewer balls (31). With two of the biggest records already in the bag, AB went searching for more.
He was 149 of 43 balls, just one run away from his 150 and breaking the record for the fastest 150 by a whopping 20 balls, but got out Andre Russell the very next ball.
Apart from this, Ab de Villiers also leveled Rohit Sharma’s record for most sixes hit in an ODI inning (16) and still holds the record for highest strike in an ODI inning where the batter has scored 50 or more runs.
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