Players who completed ODI centuries with a six on last ball of the innings

The frequency at which the middle-order players score century is quite less compared to that of the openers or the top three in ODI cricket. In recent times, the three-figure scores have been mostly limited to the players in the top three batting positions in the One-Day format. Many players on certain occasions remain unbeaten in the 90s due to the completion of the allotted overs. Some players have been quite lucky to reach their ton in the final over or final ball of the team’s innings.

Here we look at all the instances of a player reaching his ton with a six on the last ball of 50th Over in ODIs:

5. AB de Villiers vs India in 2015

South Africa began the 2015 tour of India with a convincing T20I series victory. It was followed by a 5-match ODI series that kick-started in Kanpur. South Africa, who elected to bat first, reached 104/2 in 23.2 overs on what seemed to be a tricky track. AB de Villiers, who walked to bat at No.4, stabilized the South African innings. He reached his fifty in 54 balls as the Proteas went past the 200-run mark in the 41st over.

They crawled to 217/4 by 44th over with AB de Villiers batting on 60 from 60 balls. The South Africans smacked 65 runs in the next five overs out of which De Villiers alone scored 38 from the 13 balls he faced. He moved to 98 from 71 balls and stood only two runs away from a hundred ahead of the 50th over. Farhaan Behardien hit 4, 4 and 6 off Umesh Yadav in the last over before handing the strike to the then South African captain.

AB de Villiers failed to connect a sharp bouncer from Umesh on the penultimate ball but cleared the long-on fielder on the final delivery to complete his hundred. This was the last instance of a player hitting a six to reach his century on the last ball of an ODI inning and also the only instance in the last 15 years. South Africa finished with 303/5 and won by 5 runs despite a 133-ball 150 by Rohit Sharma.