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How De Villiers rewrote cricketing history

Last updated on: January 19, 2015 13:17 IST

When South Africa's AB de Villiers scored the quickest century on Sunday, he broke more than just an ODI record. Here is how the South African has rewritten cricketing history.

AB de Villiers of South Africa hits a six during the 2nd Momentum ODI between South Africa and West Indies at Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on Sunday

AB de Villiers of South Africa hits a six during the 2nd Momentum ODI between South Africa and West Indies at Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on Sunday. Photograph: Duif du Toit/Gallo Images/Getty Images

South Africa’s AB de Villiers rewrote cricket record books, on Sunday, when he smashed the fastest hundred in One-Day International history, taking only 31 balls to reach the three figure mark.

De Villiers bettered the previous record held by New Zealand’s Corey Anderson, who had scored his hundred off 36 balls last year also against West Indies.

It took AB de Villiers only 16 balls to race to his fifty. In fact his second fifty (off 15 balls) was faster than his first fifty, but record books always take in to account only the first fifty and not any subsequent fifty scored later in the innings. Hence, AB de Villiers will be credited with only 16-ball fifty. Still, it is also a new world record.

Sanath Jayasuriya had taken 17 balls for his fifty against Pakistan at Singapore in 1996.

Here is a ball by ball account of AB de Villiers' innings:

Over	Sequence	End of Over Score	Remarks
39th	4 2 1	7* (3)	came in to bat after 38.3 overs
40th	1 4 6 4 6	28* (8)
41st	6 0 0 2 2 L	38* (13)
42nd	1 6 6 6 4	61* (18)	fifty off 16 balls - a world record
43rd	6 1 4 1	73* (22)
44th	1 0 4N 4	82* (26)
45th	0 6	88* (28)
46th	4 6 6 6	110* (32)	hundred off 31 balls - a world record
47th	L 6	116* (34)
48th	1	117* (35)
49th	6 6 4 6 6 2	147* (41)
50th	2 0 X	149 (44)	dismissed off 49.4 over

L=Leg-bye, N= No-ball, X= Out

Fastest centuries in One-Day Internationals

Balls	Player	For	Vs	Venue	Year
31	AB de Villiers (149)	South Africa	West Indies	Johannesburg	2015
36	Corey Anderson (131*)	New Zealand	West Indies	Queenstown	2004
37	Shahid Afridi (102)	Pakistan	Sri Lanka	Nairobi	1996
44	Mark Boucher (147*)	South Africa	Zimbabwe	Potchefstroom	2006
45	Brian Lara (117)	West Indies	Bangladesh	Dhaka	1999
45	Shahid Afridi (102)	Pakistan	India	Kanpur	2005
46	Jesse Ryder (104)	New Zealand	West Indies	Queenstown	2014
48	Sanath Jayasuriya (134)	Sri Lanka	Pakistan	Singapore	1996
50	Kevin O'Brien (113)	Ireland	England	Bangalore	2011
52	Virat Kohli (100*)	India	Australia	Jaipur	2013
53	Shahid Afridi (124)	Pakistan	Bangladesh	Dambulla	2010

Progression to fastest ODI hundred (This is how the record of fastest ODI hundred has changed hands over the years, starting with New Zealand’s Ken Wadsworth, who was the first batsman to score a hundred off less than 100 balls).

Balls	Batsman	For	Vs	Venue	Year
94	Ken Wadsworth (104)	New Zealand	Australia	Christchurch	1974
88	Majid Khan (109)	Pakistan	England	Nottingham	1974
82	Clive Lloyd (102)	West Indies	Australia	Lord's	1975
80	Greg Chappell (138*)	Australia	New Zealand	Sydney	1980
76	Zaheer Abbas (123)	Pakistan	Sri Lanka	Lahore	1982
72	Zaheer Abbas (118)	Pakistan	India	Multan	1982
72	Viv Richards (149)+	West Indies	India	Jamshedpur	1983
62	M Azharuddin (108*)	India	New Zealand	Baroda	1988
48	Sanath Jayasuriya (134)	Sri Lanka	Pakistan	Singapore	1996
37	Shahid Afridi (102)	Pakistan	Sri Lanka	Nairobi Gym	1996
36	Corey Anderson (131*)	New Zealand	West Indies	Queenstown	2014
31	AB de Villiers (149)	South Africa	West Indies	Johannesburg	2015

+ The record was only equalled, not broken

Not just One-Day Internationals, AB de Villiers' 31-ball hundred is now the fastest in all limited-over matches or List A matches as they are better known as (more than 23,000 List A matches have been played so far). Take a look:

Fastest centuries in List A cricket

Balls	Player	For	Vs	Venue	Year
31	AB de Villiers (149)	South Africa	West Indies	Johannesburg	2015
36	Graham Rose (110)	Somerset	Devon	Torquay	1990
36	Corey Anderson (131*)	New Zealand	West Indies	Queenstown	2014
37	Shahid Afridi (102)	Pakistan	Sri Lanka	Nairobi	1996
40	Yusuf Pathan (108*)	Baroda	Maharashtra	Ahmedabad	2010
43	Ryan Watson (103*)	Scotland	Somerset	Edinburgh	2003
44	Mark Ealham (112)	Kent	Derbyshire	Maidstone	1995
44	Mark Boucher (147*)	South Africa	Zimbabwe	Potchefstroom	2006
44	Tom Smith (106)	Lancashire	Worcestershire	Worcester	2012
45	Brian Lara (117)	West Indies	Bangladesh	Dhaka	1999
45	Shahid Afridi (102)	Pakistan	India	Kanpur	2005
45	Imran Nazir (189)	ZTBL	SGCP	Islamabad	2013

In fact there has been only one better performance in all competitive cricket across all recognised formats (First-class cricket, List A matches, T20 cricket). Playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors India, Chris Gayle scored his hundred off just 30 balls in 2013, which is the only innings faster than AB de Villiers.

Fastest hundreds in all recognised cricket

Balls	Player	For	Vs	Venue	Year	Format
30	Chris Gayle (175*)	RCB	Pune Warriors	Bangalore	2013	T20
31	AB de Villiers (149)	South Africa	West Indies	Johannesburg	2015	ODI
34	David Hookes (107)	South Australia	Victoria	Adelaide	1982	FC
34	Andrew Symonds (112)	Kent	Middlesex	Maidstone	2004	T20
35	L van der Westhuizen (145)	Namibia	Kenya	Windhoek	2011	T20
36	Graham Rose (110)	Somerset	Devon	Torquay	1990	List A
36	Corey Anderson (131*)	New Zealand	West Indies	Queenstown	2014	ODI

Note: There have been some faster hundreds than those listed above, but they came in contrived circumstances with bowling sides feeding the batsmen longhops, full-tosses trying to facilitate a declaration from the batting sides. Such performances are not treated as ‘genuine’ records.

Rajneesh Gupta