Fastest 50 in ODIs: The quickest of them all and the Indian record

India all-rounder Krunal Pandya created a new record of scoring the quickest half-century in One Day Internationals (ODI) for a debutant on Tuesday. He thus broke the record which was previously held by New Zealand’s John Morris, who had scored his half-century in 35 balls against England in 1990. 

Krunal scored his half-century in just 26 balls, hitting six fours and two sixes and has now become the 15th Indian batsman to score fifty-plus runs on his ODI debut.

While Krunal Pandya broke the previous fifty-on-debut debut record by a hefty nine balls, it is far from the record of the fastest 50 in ODI cricket.

Here’s a look at the top knocks

AB de Villiers vs West Indies - 16 balls, January 2015

AB de Villiers holds the record for the fastest 50 in ODI cricket taking just 16 balls to reach the landmark. It came in South Africa’s second match against the West Indies at Johannesburg in 2015.

The South Africa captain at the time not only scored the fastest 50 in ODI cricket but also went on to blaze the fastest hundred in ODI as well. South Africa posted a mammoth 439/2 and as many as three players, including de Villiers, scored centuries.

The Proteas won the game by 148 runs after restricting West Indies to 291/7.

Sanath Jayasuriya vs Pakistan - 17 balls, April 1996

The final of the Singer Cup in 1996 was a low-scoring affair, with Pakistan accumulating just 215 runs while batting first. Sri Lanka, however, made a stunning start and their star opener, Sanath Jayasuriya was at the centre of it.

The southpaw went on to score the then fastest half-century in ODIs, reaching the landmark in just 17 balls. By the time he had scored his half-century, his opening partner, Romesh Kaluwitharana was yet to open his account. Jayasuriya went on to score 76 off just 28 balls but Sri Lanka were eventually bundled out for 172.

As many three players have scored fifty in ODI in 17 balls. Apart from Jayasuriya, Kusal Perera did it against Pakistan in 2015, and in the same year, New Zealand’s Martin Guptill matched the figures against Sri Lanka.

Liam Livingstone vs Netherlands - 17 balls, June 2022

England’s middle-order batter Liam Livingstone smashed a 17-ball half-century against the Netherlands on June 17, which is the joint second-fastest half-century in ODI cricket. Of the 54 runs he scored in 17 balls, as many as 50 came in boundaries alone (five 4s and five 6s).

Coming on to bat with England playing at 4/407, Livingstone took little to no time to settle. In only his first over, the 28-year-old scored 32 runs off Philippe Boissevain’s over, hitting four sixes and three fours.

Livingstone continued to wreak havoc for the rest of the innings as he finished with a unbeaten score of 66 off 22 balls.

Simon O’Donnell vs Sri Lanka - 18 balls, May 1990

Before AB de Villiers and Sanath Jayasuriya, Australia’s Simon O’Donnell held the record for the fastest fifty in ODI when he smashed 74 off just 29 balls against Sri Lanka in a 114-run victory for his team in the second semi-final of the 1990 Austral-Asia Cup. 

The middle-order batsman scored his half-century in 18 deliveries as Australia posted 332/3 while also riding on the back of Dean Jones’ scintillating ton.

Since O’Donnell’s 18-ball fifty, four more players have matched the feat. This includes Shahid Afridi, who has done it thrice (against Sri Lanka in 1996, against the Netherlands in 2002 and vs Bangladesh in 2014), Glenn Maxwell (against India in 2013), Brendon McCullum (vs England in 2015) and Aaron Finch (vs Sri Lanka in 2016).

Fastest fifty in ODI: The top 5

Apart from Mark Boucher, Justin Kemp, Brendon McCullum (twice), Chris Gayle, Ross Taylor, David Hussey and Shahid Afridi have too scored a half-century in 19 balls. Similarly, the 20-ball half-century group also belongs to Brendon McCullum, Daren Sammy, Richie Berrington, Corey Anderson and Angelo Mathews.

Fastest fifty in ODI for India: Ajit Agarkar holds on to the record

Krunal Pandya’s half-century isn’t the quickest one for India either. Ajit Agarkar holds the record for the fastest fifty in ODI for India taking just 21 balls to reach the milestone. A few others came up second-best taking just 22 balls.

While Krunal Pandya’s feat is worth hailing, he is now the 15th Indian cricketer to have racked a 50-plus score on their ODI debut. KL Rahul and Faiz Fazal did it last in 2016.

Brijesh Patel - 1974

Ajit Wadekar - 1974

Sandeep Patil - 1980

Raman Lamba - 1986

Navjot Singh Sidhu - 1987

Pravin Amre - 1991

Saba Karim - 1997

A Khurasiya - 1999

Robin Uthappa - 2006

Ravindra Jadeja - 2009

Ambati Rayudu - 2013

Manish Pandey - 2015

KL Rahul - 2016

Faiz Fazal - 2016

Krunal Pandya - 2021

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Punit Paranjpe