AB de Villiers To Shahid Afridi: Fastest 50 In ODIs

Brendon McCullum, AB de Villiers, and Shahid Afridi (Source: AFP)

White-ball cricket has evolved massively in recent years. Over the past few years, several batters around the world have set the stage on fire with their miraculous batting displays in the One-Day Internationals.

For the unversed, the ODIs are the perfect combination of Tests and T20Is. It provides the batter with enough time to settle.

On top of that, the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) introduction of the use of two new balls simultaneously from the start of an innings until the 34th over in 2011 has further leveraged the batters. Keeping the ball hard and in shape for a longer period.

Despite the changes, achieving certain milestones has not been easy for the batters. Especially scoring fifties under 20-25 deliveries. It takes a risk to score the early runs while batting aggressively in the 50-over format.

That being said, in this article, take a look at the list of batters with the fastest 50 in ODIs.

List of Fastest 50 in ODIs

5) Richard Berrington, Corey Anderson, Angelo Mathews, Shahid Afridi, Brendon McCullum, Daren Sammy, Kusal Mendis: 20 balls

All seven of the players, Richie Berrington, Corey Anderson, Angelo Mathews, Shahid Afridi, Brendon McCullum, Daren Sammy, and Kusal Mendis, have etched their names in record books for smashing spectacular 20-ball half-centuries in ODI cricket.

Pakistan’s former all-rounder actually scored a 20-ball fifty twice in his ODI career. The most famous instance was against India at Kanpur in 2005. He hit another 20-ball half-century against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in 2002.  

Corey Anderson, a hard-hitting New Zealand all-rounder, blasted a 20-ball fifty against the West Indies at Queenstown in 2014. He went on to score a 36-ball century, breaking the then-world record for the fastest ODI century.

Also read: 5 Times India-Pakistan Cricketers Played On The Same Team

From Sri Lanka, Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis have scored 20-ball fifties against Scotland and the West Indies, respectively, and share the record for the joint-fifth fastest ODI half-century.

Other names in the tally are Brendon McCullum, Richie Berrington and Daren Sammy, who have also achieved the feat in just 20 balls.  

4) Brendon McCullum, Mark Boucher, Ross Taylor, Justin Kemp, Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, David Hussey, Kusal Mendis, Syed Aziz, Anil Sah: 19 balls

This mix of international cricketers has all scored a half-century in exactly 19 balls in the fifty-over format. Notably, New Zealand's great, Brendon McCullum, has achieved the feat twice in his career.

The England head coach, McCullum hit his 19-ball half-century against Bangladesh in December 2007, scoring 80 off 28 balls. He later achieved the feat once again with another scintillating 19-ball 51 against Sri Lanka in 2015.  

3) Simon O'Donnell, Shahid Afridi, Glenn Maxwell, Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch, Michael Leask: 18 balls

All of these players have scored an ODI half-century in 18 balls.

Australian batter, Simon O'Donnell, reached his 50 off 18 balls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah on May 2, 1990. This extraordinary knock stood as the world record for the fastest ODI fifty for nearly six years.

Shahid Afridi scored an 18-ball fifty thrice in his career. He first equalled the record against Sri Lanka in Nairobi on Oct 4, 1996, and repeated the feat twice - against the Netherlands in Colombo on September 21, 2002, and against Bangladesh in Mirpur on March 4, 2014.

Also read: Fastest Half-Centuries In List A Cricket Ft. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

Brendon McCullum smashed the then-fastest half-century in ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup history against England in Wellington on February 20, 2015.

Lastly, Aaron Finch and Scotland’s Michael Leask also feature in the list with the joint third fastest ODI fifty.

He later broke his own records, famously smashing an 18-ball fifty during the 2015 World Cup match against England.

2) Liam Livingstone, Martin Guptill, Kusal Perera, Sanath Jayasuriya: 17 balls

All four of the above-stated cricketers share the joint second-fastest half-century in the format's history, each reaching the milestone in just 17 balls, just one ball shy of the absolute ODI world record of fastest fifty.  

Back in 1996, Sanath Jayasuriya set the all-time world record at the time with his iconic 17-ball half-century in Singapore, holding the record for nearly two decades. In 2015, another Sri Lankan legend, Kusal Perera, levelled the record by blazing a 17-ball fifty in Pallekele against the same team, Pakistan.

One name that has featured multiple times in the list of the fastest 50 in ODIs is Martin Guptill. The Kiwi legend reached the feat against Sri Lanka in 2015 at the Christchurch.

Seven years later, English power-hitter Liam Livingstone joined the greats with a fabulous half-century against the Netherlands in 2022.  

1) AB de Villiers, Matthew Forde: 16 balls

Primarily a pacer, Matthew Forde smashed the joint-fastest fifty in One Day International cricket, reaching the milestone in just 16 balls in 2025. This spectacular knock equalled the long-standing world record set by South African legend AB de Villiers back in 2015.  

Thus, the record for the fastest 50 in ODIs is jointly held by AB de Villiers and West Indies player Matthew Forde.

(*All Stats Updated till June 25, 2026)

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