Hashim Amla has eclipsed Virat Kohli’s record to become the fastest player to 7,000 ODI runs during South Africa’s third ODI against England at Lord’s.
Upon reaching 23 during the Proteas innings in the dead-rubber fixture at the Home of Cricket, Amla hit the 7,000-run mark in just his 150th innings – 11 knocks fewer than it took Kohli.
The India skipper, who scored his 7,000th ODI run in January 2016 in Australia, has also been usurped by Amla as the holder of the records for fastest to 5,000 and 6,000 ODI runs, with the South African run machine seemingly forever on the heels of his younger batting counterpart.
Amla is one of only five batsmen to have played 100 ODIs and be averaging more than 50 with the bat, while his 24 centuries put him level with AB de Villiers as the national record.
In February, the 34-year-old joined legends Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena in an elite group of players to have scored 50 international hundreds.
Incredibly, he did it in comfortably quicker time than those illustrious names that achieved the feat before him, with his 348 innings well ahead of second-placed Tendulkar’s 376.
Amla made scores of 73 and 24 in the first two ODIs to continue his fine form from the Indian Premier League, where he made his first two T20 hundreds during a dominant tournament with Kings XI Punjab.
On reaching 28 against England, he went past former captain Graeme Smith as South Africa’s most prolific opening batsman in ODI cricket – a position from which he’s scored all but 30 of his runs.
South Africa face Sri Lanka in their Champions Trophy opener on Saturday at The Oval, before taking on further subcontinental opposition in Pakistan and India on June 7 and 11 respectively.
“We have a very good balance in the team,” Amla said last week.
“There are a few of us who have been around for a few years, (and) a few exciting youngsters like Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell, who has been around but still has age on his side.
“We have a very good mix, hopefully we can all put it together.”