Daryl Mitchell levels Babar Azam, inches closer to Virat Kohli for big ODI record

Daryl Mitchell levels Babar Azam, nears Virat Kohli [Source: @blackcaps/x, AFP]

Daryl Mitchell once again led New Zealand’s rescue act with complete authority against Team India, this time doing so in the series-deciding third ODI match at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday, January 18. Just a couple of days after unleashing his match-winning 131* from 117 balls to help New Zealand chase down India’s 284 in Rajkot, Daryl Mitchell notched up yet another half-century, thus marking his third successive fifty-plus score in the three-match series.

The innings also helped the New Zealand batting all-rounder level up with Pakistan icon Babar Azam for a rare ODI record since 2023. Moreover, Daryl Mitchell also took a step closer in matching legendary Indian batter and perpetual run machine Virat Kohli.

Daryl Mitchell registers 21st ODI 50-plus score, 18th since 2023

Daryl Mitchell made his ODI debut for New Zealand back in March 2021 with a match against Bangladesh in Dunedin. To date, the blistering middle-order batter has fired eight hundreds and 13 half-centuries in 54 ODI innings to compound 21 scores of 50 or more in the format.

The 34-year-old has listed 18 of those fifty-plus scores in ODI since the year 2023 itself. With his latest batting act against India, Daryl Mitchell levelled up with Pakistan batting icon Babar Azam and Sri Lankan resolute Kusal Mendis in terms of listing the joint fifth highest number of ODI scores of 50 or more during this period.

Currently ranked number two on the ICC ODI batting rankings, Daryl Mitchell is just four fifty-plus scores behind number one ranked and modern-day great Virat Kohli, who has racked up 22 of such scores since 2023. Here is a look at some batters with most fifty-plus scores to their names in ODI cricket since the start of 2023.

Most 50+ Scores in ODIs Since 2023:

• Virat Kohli (India) – 22
• Shubman Gill (India) – 20
• Pathum Nissanka (Sri Lanka), Rohit Sharma (India) – 19 each
• Babar Azam (Pakistan), Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka), Daryl Mitchell (New Zealand) – 18 each

Remarkably enough, Daryl Mitchell did not play a single ODI match throughout the year 2024, and yet finds himself among the most proficient run-makers in the format in the past three years.

Daryl Mitchell steadies New Zealand, again

Getting invited to bat first by Indian captain Shubman Gill in the third ODI of the three-match series in Indore, New Zealand lost both opening batters, Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls to Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh respectively within the first seven balls of the game.

Tottering at 5-2, soon to be 58-3 after the fall of Will Young, middle-order batters Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips consolidated the New Zealand innings with a counterattacking 100-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Interestingly, the star New Zealander seems to enjoy batting against England and India the most, considering he averages 93.50 and 75.22 against the two teams respectively in ODIs.