AB de Villiers became the fastest man to reach 9 000 ODI runs, achieving the feat in 205 innings.

The record was his, it was simply a matter of how soon, and De Villiers did it in trademark style. A typical club with the bat over mid-wicket was what did it, racking up the five runs required to become the second South African, and the 18th player of all time, to reach 9 000 runs in the 50-over format.

What separates De Villiers from the rest of the pack is the speed at which he did it. He took 205 innings to achieve the feat, 23 innings quicker than India’s Sourav Ganguly. Jacques Kallis did it 37 innings slower.

The 33-year-old is seemingly never out of form in this format. Take a look at his stats now and it’s poetic reading: 9 080 runs from 9 080 balls. The perfect strike rate to go with a near-perfect ODI career for the skipper.

Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images