Record-breaking sporting moments of 2015

Sports in the year 2015 witnessed many record-breaking feats. Prominent among them were Usain Bolt's Beijing magic and Novak Djokovic's almost perfect season. Here we look into some of the moments which truly defined the year.

Usain Bolt: The fastest man on the planet cements his legacy

Sprint king Usain Bolt on August 28 completed a perfect sprint double over his rival Justin Gatlin by winning the 200 metres at the 2015 Beijing World Athletics Championships.

With the win, the back-to-back Olympic champion increased his world titles to 10 over 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay.

The 29-year-old Jamaican is the world record holder in this distance with that transcending run of 19.19sec. And his run today was the best time for the season.

He defended his 100m title with a 9.79sec run which was 0.01sec faster to Gatlin's effort.

Super year of unbeatable Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic finished the best season of his life in fitting style as the world number one crushed Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4 on November 22 to win the ATP Tour Finals title for a record fourth successive year.

The 11th title of Djokovic's astonishingly dominant campaign served as the perfect finale to arguably the best run by any male player in the Open Era.

Playing in a record 15th consecutive tour-level final, Djokovic delivered another masterclass to record his 82nd victory from 88 matches this year and bank the winners' cheque for USD 1.05 million.

Superman with ball and ball: AB de Villiers records fastest 50, 100, 150 in ODIs

South African captain AB de Villiers on March 12 scripted yet another record, by becoming the first batsman to hit 20 sixes in a single edition of World Cup.

His 82-ball innings for 99 runs, which included four hits over the rope, helped the Proteas registered a comfortable 146-run win over United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Regarded as one of the greats of modern times, AB is on record breaking spree. The 31-year-old has the fastest 50, 100 and 150 in ODI's to his credit.

Unstopable Kumar Sangakkara dominated World Cup before retirement

Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara continued his superb run in the ICC World Cup 2015 as he slammed a fourth consecutive ton on March 11, this time against Scotland in the 35th match of the showpiece event.

The wicketkeeper batsman, who had earlier slammed centuries against Bangladesh (105*), England (117*) and Australia (104) respectively, reached the three-figure mark off 86 balls. He was finally dismissed for 124 by Josh Davey in the 36th over of the innings.

Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Sport's greatest rivalry got another chapter

Barcelona pair Lionel Messi and Neymar were on November 30 named on the shortlist for FIFA`s prestigious Ballon d`Or along with double reigning title holder, Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid.

While Portuguese Ronaldo has triumphed over the last two seasons (in a total of three wins), Argentinian Messi has previously claimed the coveted award four times while Brazilian Neymar makes the shortlist for FIFA`s player of the year award for the first time.