5 records of AB de Villiers that might never be broken – Check Here
South African legend AB de Villiers recently stunned fans when he announced that he would be retiring from all forms of cricket. De Villiers, who had retired from international cricket in 2018, continued playing in franchise T20 leagues and was one of the key members of the IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore for many years. He ended his T20 career with 9424 runs in 340 matches at a strike rate of 150.13 with four hundreds and 69 fifties. In the IPL, he amassed 5162 runs in 184 matches at a strike rate of 151.68. In the wake of his complete retirement from cricket, we look at some of his amazing records that wmight never be broken.
1. Fastest 50, 100 and 150 in ODIs
De Villiers holds the record for having smashed the fastest 50, 100 and 150 in one-day cricket. Incredibly, he achieved all three feats in the same year and two of them in the same match. The South African giant reached his fifty off 16 balls in the second ODI of the 2015 series against West Indies in Johannesburg. He thus went past Sanath Jayasuriya’s record of having scored a fifty in 17 balls. In the same match, De Villiers went on to complete a century in only 31 balls. By doing so, he broke the record held by Corey Anderson, who had slammed a 36-ball hundred in 2014. De Villiers ended up scoring 149 in only 44 balls, clobbering nine fours and 16 sixes.
The former South African cricketer also hit the fastest 150 off only 64 balls against West Indies later in the year. This innings was even more special as it was registered during the 2015 World Cup encounter in Sydney. De Villiers ended up unbeaten on 162 off 66, smacking 17 fours and eight sixes.
2. Highest strike rate in an innings by a centurion in ODIs
De Villiers holds the record for the highest strike rate in an innings by a centurion in ODIs. He achieved this spectacular feat during his 44-ball 149 in the one-dayer against West Indies. ABD ended his innings with a staggering strike rate of 338.63. He also has the best strike rate for a 150+ knock in ODIs. During his innings of 162 not out against West Indies in the 2015 World Cup, he finished with a strike rate of 245.45.
3. Only batter averaging over 50 with a strike rate of 100-plus in ODIs (minimum 2000 runs)
De Villiers holds a rare record in ODIs. Among batters with more than 2000 runs, he is the only one with a strike rate of 100-plus and an average of 50-plus. Mr 360 plundered 9577 runs in 228 one-dayers at a strike rate of 101.09 and an average of 53.50. Also, De Villiers and Kohli are the only batters to average more than 50 in both Tests and ODI cricket (minimum 2,000 runs). De Villiers averaged 50.66 in Tests, while Kohli has an average of 51.08 in Tests and 59.07 in ODI cricket.
4. Most innings before first Test duck – 78
Apart from being a limited-overs legend, De Villiers was a great batter in the Test format as well. He holds the record for having played the most innings before being dismissed for a duck. He played 78 innings before being dismissed without scoring against Bangladesh in 2008-09 at Centurion. De Villiers ended his Test career with 8765 runs in 114 matches at an average of 50.66 with 22 hundreds.
5. Top two IPL partnerships
De Villiers featured in the top two partnerships in the history of the IPL, both times with Virat Kohli. He added 229 alongside the RCB skipper in IPL 2016 versus Gujarat Lions and 215 against Mumbai Indians in 2015. ABD was unbeaten on 129 off 52 against the Lions and slammed 133 not out off 59 against MI. (CricToday)