South Africa superstar set to erase India legend Sourav Ganguly's name from the record books during New Zealand tour
De Villiers zeroes in on next ODI landmark
AB de Villiers has only recently returned to international cricket but the South Africa superstar is already on the verge of claiming another record in his glittering career.
The Proteas kick-started their multi-formatted tour of New Zealand with a crushing 78-run win in Friday night's T20 in Auckland, and the series shifts to one-day mode in Hamilton on Sunday.
De Villiers needs to score 87 more to become the fastest to 9000 runs in the 50-over game – a record currently held by former India captain Sourav Ganguly.
Time is certainly on de Villiers' side; if he makes the required runs at any point in the five-match series against the Black Caps, he will obliterate Ganguly's mark of 228 innings.
Currently, the 32-year-old has played 202 ODI innings, and is averaging a staggering 53.69 – the highest of any batsman to have played 50-plus matches.
De Villiers has only played 10 of his 211 ODIs in New Zealand but the right-hander boasts a superb record in the country: he has made 571 runs at 142.75, with a century and four fifties.
His three most recent ODI scores in New Zealand have been 65no, 99 and 77, with the first of those coming in the Proteas' nail-biting World Cup semi-final defeat to the hosts in March 2015.
The South Africans returned to Auckland's Eden Park – the scene of the latest in a string of forgettable World Cup exits for the Rainbow Nation – for last Friday's T20, and play the fifth ODI at the venue on March 4.
Perhaps the only question once he sets the mark will be whether it can withstand the phenomenal run-scoring feats of teammate Hashim Amla and India captain Virat Kohli.
Kohli continues to smash every 'fastest to' 1000-run milestone as he forges arguably the greatest ODI batting career of them all, only to see Amla erase his name from the record books each and every time.
Currently, Amla is the fastest batsman to 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 and 6000 ODI runs and is on track to shatter Kohli's record for the fastest to 7000.
Kohli's ODI runs tally is 7755 from 171 innings, meaning he needs to score 245 runs in his next 10 innings to break the current 8000 run mark of 182 innings – held by none other than de Villiers.
With an ODI average of 53.11, that would appear a mere formality, paving the way for him to target the 9000 runs mark de Villiers looks set to imminently claim.