AB de Villiers scored a superb unbeaten 136 off just 106 balls against Australia at Harare in the second One-Day International (ODI) of the Zimbabwe Triangular Series 2014. In doing so, he gave another illustration of why he is such a highly rated player. Shiamak Unwalla brings you more on the topic.
Adjectives tend to get thrown around a lot when it comes to describing certain players, especially AB de Villiers. To call most players a “great batsman across all three formats” would be overkill; to call de Villiers that, however, is simply being truthful.
Since his debut in 2004, only four batsmen have scored more runs than de Villiers in all formats of the game. Below is the list of top five run-scorers in all formats of the game since 2004:
Player
Period
M
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
SR
100
50
Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
2004-2014
434
47
21756
319
49.2
67.57
50
123
Mahela Jayawardene (SL)
2004-2014
424
42
17481
374
40.1
65.69
35
96
Michael Clarke (Aus)
2004-2014
365
64
16084
329*
46
65.33
35
80
Ricky Ponting (Aus)
2004-2012
301
30
15152
221
44.6
69.7
36
91
AB de Villiers (SA)
2004-2014
317
51
15004
278*
46.7
70.14
37
78
Unsurprisingly, it is Kumar Sangakkara who rules the roost with a staggering 21,756 runs. His 50 centuries and 123 fifties are also by far the most by anyone in the top five. However, it is worth noting that de Villiers has played far fewer games compared to Sangakkara, who has had the highest number of appearances among the top five during this period.
If one looks at the top five run scorers across formats since the year 2009, de Villiers features more prominently:
Player
Period
M
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
SR
100
50
Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
2009-2014
243
29
12649
319
50.79
67.67
29
75
Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL)
2009-2014
224
23
9656
193
42.16
86.42
28
43
AB de Villiers (SA)
2009-2014
181
33
9371
278*
53.85
74.48
27
48
Michael Clarke (Aus)
2009-2014
178
29
9303
329*
48.45
65.28
23
41
Mahela Jayawardene (SL)
2009-2014
228
18
9133
275
37.73
66.55
17
52
Again, it is Sangakkara leading the way, but he has played the most matches here as well. Here though, de Villiers tops the batting averages, with an average of 53.85 and a strike rate of 74.48 to boot.
When one takes into consideration only ODIs since 2009, de Villiers’ value is highlighted even more:
Player
Period
M
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
SR
100
50
0
Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
2009-2014
144
12
5883
169
46.69
82.21
9
43
6
Virat Kohli (India)
2009-2014
130
18
5475
183
52.64
90.75
19
29
10
Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL)
2009-2014
135
13
5428
160*
45.23
88.96
16
23
6
AB de Villiers (SA)
2009-2014
89
18
4371
136*
63.34
101.5
15
23
1
MS Dhoni (India)
2009-2014
119
35
4163
139*
61.22
87.86
5
30
2
Here, the top two batsmen should not be a surprise, as Sangakkara again sits at the top, with Virat Kohli at No 2. However, it should be noted that de Villiers has played less than 100 ODIs in this period. His average of 63.64 is the best by far — even better than that of “Mr Finisher” MS Dhoni — as is his strike rate of 101.5. He also has just one duck in 89 matches — admirable when compared with Kohli’s 10.
With his ton against Australia, de Villiers furthered his reputation of Aussie-bashing. When looking at the batsmen with the best averages against Australia in ODIs since 2004 who have played at least 10 matches against them, de Villiers leads the way by a long margin:
Player
Period
M
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
SR
100
50
AB de Villiers (SA)
2006-2014
17
3
855
136*
61.1
95.74
1
6
Virat Kohli (India)
2009-2013
15
2
608
118
55.3
100.66
3
2
Rohit Sharma (India)
2007-2013
16
3
684
209
52.6
94.34
2
2
Jos Buttler (Eng)
2013-2014
10
2
346
75
49.4
127.2
0
3
Jonathan Trott (Eng)
2011-2013
15
3
591
137
49.3
76.55
2
3
(Shiamak Unwalla is a reporter with Cricket Country. He is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek and Cricket fanatic who likes to pass his free time by reading books, watching TV shows, and eating food. Sometimes all at the same time. You can follow him on twitter at @ShiamakUnwalla)
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