Rassie van der Dussen second-fastest to 2000 ODI runs

Star Proteas batter Rassie van der Dussen reached the 2000 ODI runs mark when he reached 18 in South Africa’s 2023 Cricket World Cup group match against Australia. Van der Dussen was caught on the boundary shortly afterwards for 26 off 30 balls.

The Proteas batter has played 45 innings in 51 ODIs, including 10 not outs. His 2008 ODI runs have come at an average of 57.37 and a strike rate of 89.36. He has scored five centuries and 12 half-centuries in ODIs. 

Van der Dussen has performed well against some of the best teams in the world, averaging 50.87 against England, 120.00 against England, 115.00 against Pakistan and 50.00 against Sri Lanka. His average against Australia dipped to 39.66 after the win in the World Cup group match on 12 March 2023. 

This is his second World Cup, following South Africa’s disastrous 2019 campaign, in which Van der Dussen was one of the few players to shine. He averaged 62.20 in that tournament, with three half-centuries in his six innings.

While Hashim Amla holds the astonishing record of hitting his 2000th run in his 40th innings, Van der Dussen and South African-born England batter Kevin Pietersen share 2nd place along with Pakistan legend Zaheer Abbas and current icon Babar Azam, all of whom took 45 innings to knock off their 2000 runs.

Sharing seventh place on the list with Pakistan’s Imam-ul-Haq is yet another South African-born England batter - Ian Trott. South African-born players make up four of the seven fastest batters to 2000 ODI runs, with Pakistan-born batters making up the other three places.