Luke Ronchi smashes records during New Zealand vs Sri Lanka 5th ODI at Dunedin

Elliott scored an unbeaten 104 from 96 balls and Ronchi smashed 170 not out from 99 balls.

New Zealand were in tatters at 93 for five in 20 overs when Luke Ronchi joined Grant Elliott at the centre. What followed was carnage: Elliott, to his credit, scored an unbeaten 104 from 96 balls, but he seemed pale in comparison with a belligerent Ronchi, who beefed his way to an outrageous 170 not out from a mere 99 balls.

Ronchi (with some help from Elliott) broke several records on his way to what can easily be written down as his finest day in international cricket. For example, he has registered the highest score by a No. 7 batsman in the history of One-Day Internationals (ODIs), overhauling MS Dhoni’s 139 not out for Asia XI. The highest for anyone representing an international side was Jos Buttler’s 121 last summer.

Highest ODI scores by No. 7 batsmen

Though Ronchi went past one of Dhoni’s records, he could not quite break another one — for the highest ODI score by a wicketkeeper. In fact, he finished third — after Dhoni and Adam Gilchrist. It must be remembered that while Ronchi batted at No. 7, Gilchrist had opened batting and Dhoni batted at No. 3.

Highest ODI scores by wicketkeepers

Though Ronchi did not quite score the highest score by a New Zealand batsman (Martin Guptill’s 189 not out remains the record) or the highest score on New Zealand soil (181 not out by Matthew Hayden), he did register the highest score by a New Zealand batsman on New Zealand soil.

Highest ODI scores by New Zealand batsmen

Highest ODI scores on New Zealand soil

Highest ODI scores by New Zealand batsmen at home

Ronchi’s unbeaten 170 came off a mere 99 balls at a whopping strike rate of 171.7. Though fast strike rates (even in excess of 200) are quite common, nobody had ever scored an ODI 150 at over two runs a ball. In fact, Ronchi’s blitzkrieg is the second-fastest, after Shane Watson’s 96-ball 185 not out. Incidentally, Ricky Ponting had scored 164 at 156.2 that day at New Wanderers, but just like the team total, it was overcome within hours by Herschelle Gibbs.

ODI 150s with highest strike rates

Elliott and Ronchi also registered the fourth occasion on which two New Zealand batsmen have scored hundreds in the same ODI innings, and the second occasion where at least one of them has scored 150 (the other occasion involved James Marshall and Brendon McCullum; they are the only ones to have scored 160s in the same ODI innings).

Two New Zealand batsmen scoring hundreds in the same ODI innings:

To conclude with, Elliott and Ronchi have also set a new world record for the sixth wicket ODI partnership; not only did they beat the 218-run stand between Mahela Jayawardene and Dhoni by a whopping 49 runs, they could also not be separated by the Sri Lankans.

Highest sixth-wicket ODI partnerships

The Elliott-Ronchi stand is also the second-highest unbroken stand for any wicket in ODI history, next to only the unbeaten 275 put up by Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja.

Highest unbroken ODI partnerships for any wicket

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