Published: Jan 23, 2016, 02:35 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 23, 2016, 05:39 PM (IST)
The ongoing series between India and Australia has broken the record for most runs scored in a bilateral One-Day International (ODI) series with major portion of the second innings of the fifth and final One-Day International yet to go. There have been a total of 11 centuries scored in the series with batsmen like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, David Warner, Steven Smith and George Bailey being contributors among others. The previous record was also held by these two teams during the previous series in India during the 2013-14 season which had seen a total of nine centuries scored. Live Cricket Scorecard: India vs Australia 2015-16, 5th ODI at Sydney
The top four instances on the table for most number of centuries in a series are all in the past three seasons further confirming that the game is becoming increasingly batsman-friendly. The startling thing of the record in this series is that it has eclipsed even bilateral series consisting seven matches within only five matches. Given the trends in modern times, it is a possibility that the record will not stand for too long. Live Cricket Blog: India vs Australia 2015-16, 5th ODI at Sydney
Rohit and Kohli are major contributors to the record having scored two hundreds each. Apart from them there have been tons from Smith, Dhawan, Warner, Bailey, Aaron Finch, Manish Pandey and Mitchell Marsh. In all there have been five hundreds from the Australians and six from the Indians. The final addition to the record came from the bat of newcomer Manish Pandey, who got the required runs only in the final over of what was a very tense game.
| Series | Matches | Innings | Runs | Hundreds | Fifties |
| India in Australia 2015-16 | 5 | 78 | 3036 | 11 | 14 |
| Australia in India 2013-14 | 6 | 94 | 3451 | 9 | 18 |
| Sri Lanka in New Zealand 2014-15 | 7 | 118 | 3171 | 8 | 10 |
| South Africa in India 2015-16 | 5 | 93 | 2718 | 8 | 11 |
| England in South Africa 2004-05 | 7 | 122 | 2959 | 7 | 10 |
| Sri Lanka in England 2006 | 5 | 89 | 2636 | 7 | 10 |
| Sri Lanka in India 2009-10 | 5 | 72 | 2486 | 7 | 9 |
| Zimbabwe in South Africa 2010-11 | 3 | 50 | 1617 | 7 | 2 |
| Sri Lanka in India 2014-15 | 5 | 86 | 2691 | 7 | 12 |
| New Zealand in England 2015 | 5 | 94 | 3016 | 7 | 17 |
The above table features the top 10 bilateral ODI series with most number of centuries scored by batsmen. It is sorted in order of highest number of centuries. Note how most records have come post 2010 indicating greater support for batsmen in recent times.
