On Tuesday, India all-rounder Krunal Pandya set a new ODI record by being the quickest rookie to reach 50 in an ODI. John Morris of New Zealand had previously held the record, scoring his half-century in 35 balls against England in 1990. He so shattered it.
Krunal became the fifteenth Indian batsman to reach fifty-plus runs on his ODI debut after scoring his half-century in just 26 balls while hitting six fours and two sixes. Krunal Pandya beat the previous fifty-on-debut mark by a sizable nine balls, but that is still a long way off the ODI record for the fastest fifty. Here are the most common criticisms.
West Indies vs. AB de Villiers (16 balls), January 2015,
AB de Villiers set the record for the quickest 50 in ODI cricket, needing only 16 balls to reach the mark. It occurred during South Africa’s second game against the West Indies at Johannesburg in 2015.
The captain of South Africa at the time made the fastest 50 in ODI cricket and went on to make the quickest 100. South Africa scored a record-breaking 439/2, and three players, including de Villiers, reached century marks. The Proteas defeated West Indies by 148 runs after holding them to 291/7.
Pakistan vs. Sanath Jayasuriya (17 balls), April 1996
In the 1996 Singer Cup final, Pakistan scored just 215 runs when batting first, making it a low-scoring contest. The southpaw went on to hit the half-century milestone in ODIs in the quickest time ever—in just 17 balls. Romesh Kaluwitharana, his opening partner, still hadn’t started his innings by the time he reached his half-century. Despite Jayasuriya’s subsequent 76 runs in just 28 balls, Sri Lanka was ultimately bowled out for 172.
In 17 balls, three players have each reached fifty in an ODI. In addition to Jayasuriya, Kusal Perera also achieved the feat against Pakistan in 2015, and Martin Guptill of New Zealand achieved the same results against Sri Lanka in the same year.
Netherlands vs. Liam Livingstone (17 balls), June 2022
Liam Livingstone, a middle-order batsman for England, scored a half-century against the Netherlands on June 17 off just 17 balls, which is tied for the second-fastest half-century in ODI cricket. Up to 50 of the 54 runs he scored in 17 balls came from just boundaries (five 4s and five 6s). Livingstone took little to no time to adjust as he came to bat with England playing at 4/407. The 28-year-old scored 32 runs off Philippe Boissevain’s over in just his first over by hitting four sixes and three fours.
Fastest Fifty in ODI: The Top 5
| Player | Opponents | Balls | Year |
| AB de Villers | West Indies | 16 | 2015 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya | Pakistan | 17 | 1996 |
| Liam Livingstone | Netherlands | 17 | 2022 |
| Simon O’Donnell | Sri Lanka | 18 | 1990 |
| Mark Bouncher | Kenya | 19 | 2001 |
“Get more sports news, cricket news, and football updates, log on to sportsdigest.in. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter and Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.”
