AB de Villiers surpasses Sourav Ganguly to claim record for fastest 9000 runs in ODIs

New Delhi: South African ODI skipper AB de Villiers etched his name into record books by becoming the fastest batsman to claim 9000 ODI runs (205 innings), surpassing former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who did so in 228 innings.

De Villiers reached the landmark with a glorious four on the bowling of Lockie Ferguson during South Africa's third ODI against New Zealand in Wellington on Saturday, February 25th.

Sooner or later, the stylish right-hander was destined to achieve the record. He began the New Zealand tour with just 87 short of 9000 runs. He scored 37-not out and 45, respectively in the previous two matches and finally made the record his own in the third.

In total there are 18 batsmen in the '9000 Club' in One-day Internationals and De Villiers boasts the best strike-rate of them all with an incredible 99.94.

AB achieved the feat in terms of matches or innings taken, but as far as time taken from ODI debut is concerned, he isn't one of the quickest. That record belongs to another Indian, Rahul Dravid, who reached the mark in 9 years and 322 days from his debut. What makes 'The Wall's record more special is that he is till date the only player to have achieved the feat inside a decade.

Here's the list of top 10 fastest batsmen to have achieved the feat:-

No.	Bowler	Against	Matches	Innings
1.	AB de Villiers (SA)	New Zealand	214*	205*
2.	Sourav Ganguly (IND)	Australia	236	228
3.	Sachin Tendulkar (IND)	South Africa	242	235
4.	Brian Lara (WI)	Australia	246	239
5.	Ricky Ponting (AUS)	South Africa	248	242
6.	Jacques Kallis (SA)	England	256	242
7.	MS Dhoni (IND)	New Zealand	281	244
8.	Mohammad Yousuf (PAK)	Bangladesh	258	245
9.	Rahul Dravid (IND)	Pakistan	280	259
10.	Adam Gilchrist (AUS)	Sri Lanka	268	261
10.	Chris Gayle (WI)	Zimbabwe	266	261

As can be seen from the list, the other South African in the list was all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who took 242 innings to achieve reach the land mark.

As far as the South Africa's performance in the match is concerned, they scored a credible 271-8 in their 50 overs and then their pace bowlers ripped the top off the hosts batting to reduce them to 58 for six in the 20th over before bowling them out for 112 in 32.2 overs.

The victory gave de Villiers` team a 2-1 lead in the five-match series with the fourth game in Hamilton on Wednesday.

Colin de Grandhomme was the only New Zealand batsmen to really come to grips with the drop-in pitch at Wellington Regional Stadium with 34 not out and highlighted that he was batting too low at number eight in the order.

Andile Phehlukwayo (2-12 from five overs) and Dwaine Pretorius (3-5 from 5.2 overs) were the most economical of the South African bowlers.

De Villiers had again held his side`s innings together with a composed knock and was only dismissed in the final over when he failed to get underneath a Trent Boult full toss and was caught on the boundary.

Quinton de Kock also gave his side a solid foundation with 68, the opener passing 50 in his last five one-day matches.

The visitors were adept at rotating the strike and ticking the scoreboard over, with 116 runs coming from singles.

A surprising double strike by de Grandhomme in the 23rd over slowed the visitors momentum, with the all-rounder having Faf du Plessis (36) caught by Tim Southee before de Kock was caught by Jimmy Neesham three balls later at deep midwicket.

South Africa had been cruising at 114-1 before de Grandhomme`s double strike.

Their vaunted middle order failed to fire with wickets falling at regular intervals and they were in trouble at 180-6 by the 39th over.

De Villiers, however, then combined with Wayne Parnell (35) to add 84 runs for the seventh wicket that gave them a target that was achievable but never in danger of being threatened by the hosts.

(With Reuters inputs)