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Freakish AB scaling lofty ODI heights

South African comfortably the world's No.1 ODI ranked batsman, and chasing history's best

AB de Villiers’ run of three centuries in the five-match ODI series against India has seen the South African extend his lead as the world’s top-ranked one-day batsman and has him rubbing shoulders with the greatest one-day batsmen in history.

De Villiers was at his belligerent best throughout the breakthrough series win for the Proteas – their first in ODIs in India – slamming hundreds in the first, fourth and fifth matches, the latter coming from just 57 balls and featuring as the centrepiece of his team’s mammoth match-winning total of 4-438.

Quick Single: Proteas seal series after record total

The 31-year-old’s performances have catapulted him back to 900 rankings points – a level only 11 players (including de Villiers himself) have reached in the history of ODI cricket.

De Villiers’ personal best ranking of 902 points came in March this year, following his world record 31-ball century against West Indies in January and a series of impressive performances in the World Cup, including an unbeaten 162 against the men from the Caribbean – the fastest-ever 150 in ODIs.

Quick Single: Stats analysis: Proteas power into record books

The right-hander is just the second South African after Quinton de Kock to score three centuries in a bilateral ODI series, and the first player ever to score four ODI hundreds in fewer than 60 balls.

De Villiers’ teammate Hashim Amla has dropped three places from second to fifth after a disappointing series, though the Test skipper still managed to become the fastest player ever to reach 6000 ODI runs after making 23 in the fifth ODI.

De Kock meanwhile, has surged into the top 10 following a strong series at the top of the order, in which he scored his seventh and eighth ODI hundreds.  

Among the Indians, captain Virat Kohli jumps into second place, largely off the back of his 23rd ODI century in the fourth ODI, while his predecessor MS Dhoni climbs two places into sixth position, following his match-winning 92 not out in the second match of the series.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan, whose 60 in the final match was his one score above 23 for the tournament, drops one place to seventh.

Current top 10 ODI batsmen


1. AB de Villiers (SA) 900pts


2. Virat Kohli (Ind) 804


3. Kane Williamson (NZ) 788


4. Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) 781


5. Hashim Amla (SA) 776


6. MS Dhoni (Ind) 741


7. Shikhar Dhawan (Ind) 730


8. Ross Taylor (NZ) 728


9. Glenn Maxwell (Aus) 717


10. Quinton de Kock (SA) 715


All-time ODI scores (900+)


1. Viv Richards (WI) 935


2. Zaheer Abbas (Pak) 931


3. Greg Chappell (Aus) 921


4. David Gower (Eng) 919


5. Dean Jones (Aus) 918


6. Javed Miandad (Pak) 910


7. Brian Lara (WI) 908


8. AB de Villiers (SA) 902


9. Hashim Amla (SA) 901


=10. Desmond Haynes (WI) 900


=10. Gary Kirsten (SA) 900