Former South Africa batter Hashim Amla holds the record for the fastest 5,000 runs in ODI cricket. Amla reached the milestone in just his 101st innings in January 2015 in the first ODI during the West Indies’ tour of South Africa. 

The opening batter scored 66 runs in as many deliveries in the match as the Proteas won by 61 runs through D/L method.

Hashim Amla made his ODI debut for South Africa in March 2008 against Bangladesh and while his initial outings were a bit underwhelming, he settled into 50-over international cricket after scoring his first half-century in November 2008 against Kenya. From that point on, there was no looking back.

The year 2010 was one of the finest of his ODI career as he scored four half-centuries and five tons. Two of those five centuries came against Zimbabwe in back-to-back ODIs while the other three were against West Indies twice and Pakistan.

By the time he got to the 5000-run mark, Amla had scored 17 centuries, which amounts to more than 60 per cent of his total career hundreds (27) in the 50-over format.

Amla’s record of breaching the 5000-run mark in ODI cricket in 101 innings puts him ahead of players like former West Indies captain Vivian Richards and former Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli, both of whom took 114 innings to reach the landmark.

Vivian Richards did so while playing against England in January 1987, whereas Kohli achieved the landmark against West Indies in November 2013. Interestingly, it took Kohli just five years and 95 days to reach 5000 runs in ODIs.

Meanwhile, the likes of David Warner and Joe Root complete the top five list for fastest players to 5000 ODI runs. 

The Australia opener took 10 years and 361 days to breach the landmark in his 115th ODI innings, which was against India in January 2020. Former England captain Root crossed the 5000-run mark in his 116th ODI innings in February 2019 against West Indies. 

Fastest 5,000 runs in ODI cricket

Player Team Match date Matches Innings
Hashim Amla South Africa January 16, 2015 104 101
Vivian Richards West Indies January 30, 1987 126 114
Virat Kohli India November 21, 2013 120 114
David Warner Australia January 14, 2020 117 115
Joe Root England February 20, 2019 122 116
Quinton de Kock South Africa February 4, 2020 116 116
Brian Lara West Indies November 3, 1997 120 118
Shikhar Dhawan India January 23, 2019 119 118
Kane Williamson New Zealand March 3, 2018 125 119
Gordon Greenidge West Indies November 13, 1990 122 121

Featured photo: AFP / Glyn Kirk