This is a rather convoluted record, I know.
Umesh Yadav is the only batsman to make two scores of 25+ with a strike rate of 250.00 and above:
Above 200.00, there is only DA Warner to accompany Yadav with two such innings. For India, there are also PS Kumar (40 at 222) and Harbhajan (37 at 205).
We close by looking at statistics for World Cup matches alone, since a fair number of high scoring rates mentioned earlier were in relatively less important or highly one-sided matches. Perhaps this would give a better idea of performance in more important matches. Perhaps the Champions Trophy matches could also be added.
We start with the highest averages in World Cup matches (minimum 20 innings):
de Villiers heads this list although MJ Clarke and IVA Richards are just behind.
Now we look as
Highest strike rates in World Cup matches (minimum 500 balls faced):
Here we have McCullum followed by de Villiers and Kapil.
Then there are links in Cricinfo’s records section for Fastest centuries in ODIs:
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/211608.html
That link is constantly updated. This is what it looked like on 26/05/2018:
Note that it took over 17 years to move from Afridi’s 37-ball effort in 1996 to Anderson’s improvement to 36 balls in 2014. But de Villiers lowered the bar to 31 balls a year later.
For World Cup matches alone, the best efforts are 50 balls by KJ O’Brien in 2011, 51 by GJ Maxwell in 2015 and de Villiers again with 52 balls in 2015.
Similarly there is a link for the fastest 50. Like in the table above, it refers to the first 50 runs in the innings although the number of balls for the second or later 50 runs may be quite different.
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/284095.html
This is what it looked like on 25/05/2018:
The record had been stuck at Jayasuriya’s 17 balls since 1996. de Villiers lowered it to 16 balls after almost 19 years. After that Kusal Perera and Guptill also equalled the old 17-ball record.
In World Cup matches, the fastest 50s have been in 18 balls by McCullum (2015), 19 by Mc Cullum again in 2015 and 20 by AD Mathews also in 2015.
We have already had a look at ABD’s Test figures. He did not do too well in T20Is. But he really came into his own in fast scoring in ODIs. His highest score there was 176. First we look at his career strike rate.
(In all the tables in this post, matches involving multi-national teams such as ICC XI, Africa XI and Asia XI have been disregarded.)
ODI career strike rate (minimum 20 innings):
Here ABD is relatively lower down, as many batsmen with less matches have scored faster. But his batting average of 54.17 is much higher than that of the likes of Maxwell and Russell.
A better comparison will be with those with longer careers:
ODI career strike rate (minimum 200 innings):
Here he is third, after Afridi and Sehwag. Here, too, his career batting average of 54.17 is considerably higher than that of those with higher strike rates. Kohli with a batting average of 58.10 has a somewhat lower strike rate.
We now go on to innings strike rates in ODIs. While ABD’s top score was 176, we start with the 200+ scores as a comparison.
Strike rates for scores above 200 in ODIs:
There have been only 7 instances of ODI double centuries so far, with 5 by Indian batsmen including 3 by RG Sharma. Gayle and Guptill made their scores in the 2015 World Cup. Sharma and Sehwag have the highest strike rates here.
Next we look at
Strike rates for scores above 150 in ODIs:
Here ABD has by far the highest strike rate in his 162*, which against the West Indies in the 2015 World Cup.
Next we have
Strike rates for scores above 100 in ODIs:
Here, ABD is the clear leader with his 149 against the West Indies, in the runup to the 2015 World Cup. His 162* mentioned above is also here, as are a few other centuries.
Next there is
Strike rates for scores above 50 in ODIs:
ABD still leads with the 149 mentioned above. For scores between 50 and 99, the best strike rates are by the NZ pair of Guptill and McCullum.
But it is an unique distinction that ABD has the best strike rates for 50+, 100+ and 150+ in ODIs.
Finally, we look at
Strike rates for scores above 25 in ODIs:
Here, the top two positions are held by two New Zealand players (including BB McCullum’s lesser known brother) with scores in the 30s. But ABD is still there at the third spot.
A little more wrapping up of high strike rates in ODIs will be done in another post.
abn397 