ODIs - Best South African Middle Order Batsmen

Top 10 South African Middle Order Batsmen In ODIs

by

Kindly switch to Landscape Mode for better viewing experience

Our One Day International (ODI) ratings take into account all matches from the first ODI match on January 5, 1971 till the below mentioned last update date. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). Here are the Top 10 South African middle order (3-6) batsmen in ODI Cricket of all time.

*Note: All ODI Ratings are updated till 2025-09-15

CONTENTS
1. THE CRITERIA
2. QUALIFICATION
3. PRIMARY CRITERIA
3.1. PROLIFIC
3.2. CONSISTENT
3.2.1. Against All Teams
3.2.2. Against Top Teams
3.3. ATTACKING
3.3.1. Against All Teams
3.3.2. Against Top Teams
3.4. BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL (NWT)
3.5. QUICK INNINGS POTENTIAL (NWT)
3.6. PRIMARY RATING
4. CONDITIONS CRITERIA
4.1. HOME/AWAY
4.1.1. At Home
4.1.2. Away From Home
4.2. FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS
4.2.1. Familiar Conditions Rating
4.2.1.1. Non Asians Outside Asia
4.2.2. Unfamiliar Conditions Rating
4.2.2.1. Non Asians In Asia
4.3. CONDITIONS RATING
5. SECONDARY CRITERIA
5.1. WORLD CUP
5.2. IMPACT INNINGS
5.3. TOP FORM
5.4. SECONDARY RATING
6. OVERALL RATING
7. NON WEAK TEAMS
8. TOP TEAMS
Nations Filter

This rating filters the OVERALL Rating to show players only from South Africa.

  • The Rating of the players from South Africa remains the same as in the original OVERALL Rating.
  • Thus the Trend Setter can be from any nation and is not necessarily from South Africa.
Position Filter

This rating filters the OVERALL Rating to include performances of middle order (3-6) batsmen. Innings played only at the specified position are counted in this rating.

THE CRITERIA

CRITERIA CONSTITUENTS
Primary Runs, Average, Strike Rate, Top Inns (Runs and SR)
Conditions Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary World Cup, Top Form, Impact Inns
The Trend Setter (TS)

TS is the player which does the best in a criteria. The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. Know All About TS. Here is an example:-

  • TS Runs: 2,000; Player X Runs: 1,000; Section Points: 250.00
  • TS Points: 250.00(Max); Player X Points: Runs/TS Runs X 250 = 1,000/2,000 X 250 = 125.00
  • Ratings of all sections are calculated similarly with Runs being replaced by the Criteria Stat.
TT and NWT

Some sections consider performances only against the top teams (TT) and non weak teams (NWT). Here is some information:-

  • Win/Loss Ratio is used to determine TT and NWT.
  • They are calculated by decades.
  • A batsman's performace is counted in TT or NWT if it comes against that team in the specific decade.
  • Knock Out and Super Six matches of ODI World Cup are also counted.
  • TT and NWT may be found in the last section.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT) 30
Min Overall Runs 1000

PRIMARY CRITERIA

The Primary Rating is divided into 5 main sections:-

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Runs Scored 200.00
Consistent Average 300.00
Attacking Strike Rate 300.00
Big Innings Potential Top Inns (Runs) 100.00
Quick Innings Potential Top Inns (SR) 100.00

PROLIFIC

The Eras

The time period of ODI cricket is divided into eras for this section. This is because less cricket was played earlier. To make it fair for earlier players they are compared with players of the same period with a slight reduction in points. Know More About Eras.

Era 1 MP before 1996
Era 2 MP between 1995 And 2011
Era 3 MP greater than 2010

Criteria: Points For Runs Scored

RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS M Azharuddin IND 1985 2000 1992.5 300 9237 170.00
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS RT Ponting AUS 1995 2012 2003.5 358 13422 200.00
1 JH Kallis SA 1996 2014 2005 305 11405 169.94
2 JN Rhodes SA 1992 2003 1997.5 200 5643 84.09
3 WJ Cronje SA 1992 2000 1996 170 5492 81.84
4 L Klusener SA 1996 2004 2000 59 1438 21.43
5 N Boje SA 1996 2005 2000.5 31 1009 15.04
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS V Kohli IND 2009 2025 2017 279 13977 200.00
1 AB de Villiers SA 2005 2018 2011.5 182 8532 122.09
2 F du Plessis SA 2011 2019 2015 135 5497 78.66
3 DA Miller SA 2010 2025 2017.5 143 4396 62.90
4 HE van der Dussen SA 2019 2025 2022 65 2657 38.02
5 H Klaasen SA 2018 2025 2021.5 56 2141 30.64

CONSISTENT

R Ave

Relative Average (R Ave) is a more accurate type of average. Know How It Is Calculated. Briefly, it takes into account:-

  • Strength of Opposition.
  • Positions at which a batsman has played.
  • Venues at which he has played.
  • Time Period in which he has been active

Criteria: Points For Relative Average

Min Qualification For TS
Min Runs 2500
Min Runs (TT) 2000

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS 50s AVE R AVE RAT
TS MG Bevan 176 55 6530 46 53.97 56.33 150.00
1 AB de Villiers 182 36 8532 46 58.44 56.18 149.61
2 HE van der Dussen 65 12 2657 17 50.13 47.41 126.24
3 JH Kallis 305 53 11405 85 45.26 46.16 122.93
4 F du Plessis 135 20 5497 35 47.80 44.14 117.54
5 H Klaasen 56 7 2141 11 43.69 44.01 117.19
6 DA Miller 143 40 4396 22 42.68 43.12 114.82
7 WJ Cronje 170 29 5492 39 38.95 40.81 108.67
8 JN Rhodes 200 43 5643 32 35.94 38.44 102.37
9 N Boje 31 3 1009 4 36.04 37.47 99.79
10 L Klusener 59 17 1438 5 34.24 36.28 96.61

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS 50s AVE R AVE RAT
TS MG Bevan 142 44 5422 38 55.33 58.67 150.00
1 AB de Villiers 141 29 6245 37 55.76 54.67 139.78
2 HE van der Dussen 42 9 1800 13 54.55 52.27 133.65
3 H Klaasen 41 6 1494 8 42.69 43.93 112.32
4 F du Plessis 107 13 4377 25 46.56 43.75 111.87
5 JH Kallis 233 37 8042 62 41.03 42.53 108.75
6 DA Miller 107 28 3115 16 39.43 40.61 103.84
7 WJ Cronje 141 21 4481 30 37.34 39.58 101.19
8 JN Rhodes 168 35 4849 27 36.46 39.43 100.82
9 N Boje 31 3 1009 4 36.04 37.47 95.81
10 L Klusener 42 8 945 4 27.79 30.08 76.91

ATTACKING

R SR

Relative Strike Rate (R SR) is calculated using the same method as R Ave with average being replaced with SR.

Criteria: Points For R SR

Min Qualification For TS
Min Runs 2500
Min Runs (TT) 2000
Min Average 25

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN RUNS BF SR R SR RAT
TS GJ Maxwell 3030 2365 128.12 113.59 150.00
1 H Klaasen 2141 1829 117.06 102.14 134.87
2 N Boje 1009 1060 95.19 96.38 127.26
3 AB de Villiers 8532 8295 102.86 95.85 126.56
4 L Klusener 1438 1603 89.71 92.83 122.59
5 DA Miller 4396 4221 104.15 91.41 120.70
6 JN Rhodes 5643 6938 81.33 85.27 112.60
7 WJ Cronje 5492 7169 76.61 81.95 108.21
8 F du Plessis 5497 6202 88.63 80.38 106.14
9 HE van der Dussen 2657 3053 87.03 76.17 100.59
10 JH Kallis 11405 15619 73.02 74.33 98.15

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN RUNS BF SR R SR RAT
TS GJ Maxwell 2435 2031 119.89 106.20 150.00
1 H Klaasen 1494 1292 115.63 101.49 143.35
2 L Klusener 945 1015 93.10 96.73 136.63
3 N Boje 1009 1060 95.19 96.38 136.12
4 AB de Villiers 6245 6260 99.76 93.12 131.53
5 DA Miller 3115 3101 100.45 88.62 125.17
6 JN Rhodes 4849 6071 79.87 84.06 118.73
7 WJ Cronje 4481 5936 75.49 81.03 114.45
8 F du Plessis 4377 4971 88.05 79.90 112.85
9 HE van der Dussen 1800 2094 85.96 75.97 107.30
10 JH Kallis 8042 11376 70.69 72.29 102.10

BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL (NWT)

Ave HS

In this criteria, we have taken the top 7 scores of the batsman against Non Weak Teams of all time. Average High Score (Ave HS) is simply the total runs in the 7 innings divided by 7.

Criteria: Points For Runs Scored In The Top 7 Inns

RANK ERA 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE HS RAT
TS IVA Richards 189* 181 153* 149 138* 119* 119 149.71 100.00
RANK ERA 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE HS RAT
TS RT Ponting 164 145 141* 140* 134* 129 126 139.86 100.00
1 JH Kallis 139 121* 119* 113* 111 109* 109* 117.29 83.86
2 WJ Cronje 112 100* 98* 97 94 91* 90 97.43 69.66
3 JN Rhodes 121 107* 98 94* 83* 83 82* 95.43 68.23
4 N Boje 129 105* 64 54 52 50 49 71.86 51.38
5 L Klusener 103* 99 88* 64 54 49 45 71.71 51.28
RANK ERA 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE HS RAT
TS V Kohli 183 166* 160* 157* 154* 140 139* 157.00 100.00
1 AB de Villiers 176 162* 149 136* 128 125* 121 142.43 90.72
2 F du Plessis 185 133* 126 125 120 112* 111 130.29 82.98
3 HE van der Dussen 134 133 129* 123* 111 108 95 119.00 75.80
4 H Klaasen 174 123* 119* 109 97 90 87 114.14 72.70
5 DA Miller 139 130* 118* 117* 101 100* 82* 112.43 71.61

QUICK INNINGS POTENTIAL (NWT)

QI SR

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 innings of the batsman with highest strike rate against Non Weak Teams. Quick Innings Strike Rate (QI SR) is the Relative SR of the batsmen in the 5 innings.

Criteria: Points For R SR In The Top 5 Inns by SR

RANK BATSMAN 1 2 3 4 5 QI SR RAT
TS Shahid Afridi 34/12 102/40 77/35 55/26 124/60 221.65 100.00
1 AB de Villiers 149/44 162/66 54/27 119/61 102/59 212.47 95.86
2 DA Miller 49/18 50/27 82/45 53/30 36/21 168.07 75.83
3 H Klaasen 174/83 119/61 81/43 90/49 109/67 165.00 74.44
4 L Klusener 41/18 36/21 33/21 35/26 54/41 162.16 73.16
5 WJ Cronje 39/22 39/25 58/42 31/23 38/31 153.35 69.19
6 JN Rhodes 39/24 57/39 71/50 53/39 28/21 150.29 67.81
7 JH Kallis 53/26 53/36 80/59 37/30 45/38 144.34 65.12
8 F du Plessis 45/19 73/50 34/25 91/67 27/20 135.28 61.03
9 N Boje 40/31 28/23 52/45 129/114 105/93 117.13 52.84
10 HE van der Dussen 60/37 129/96 134/117 52/46 133/118 107.40 48.45

PRIMARY RATING

The total of the above five criteria comes out to be 1,000.00 points. The Primary Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the five criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 40 percent.

RANK BATSMAN PRO CON ATT BIP QIP TOT PRI PTS
1 AB de Villiers 122.09 289.39 258.10 90.72 95.86 856.15 342.46
2 JH Kallis 169.94 231.68 200.25 83.86 65.12 750.85 300.34
3 H Klaasen 30.64 229.51 278.22 72.70 74.44 685.51 274.20
4 DA Miller 62.90 218.66 245.87 71.61 75.83 674.87 269.95
5 F du Plessis 78.66 229.41 218.99 82.98 61.03 671.07 268.43
6 JN Rhodes 84.09 203.19 231.33 68.23 67.81 654.65 261.86
7 WJ Cronje 81.84 209.86 222.67 69.66 69.19 653.22 261.29
8 HE van der Dussen 38.02 259.89 207.89 75.80 48.45 630.04 252.02
9 L Klusener 21.43 173.53 259.21 51.28 73.16 578.60 231.44
10 N Boje 15.04 195.60 263.39 51.38 52.84 578.24 231.30

CONDITIONS CRITERIA

The Conditions Rating is calculated by applying the five criteria of Primary Rating to various conditions. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

The four conditions criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Home 20.00
Away 80.00
Familiar Conditions 20.00
Unfamiliar Conditions 80.00

HOME/AWAY

HM/AW RATING

Points to note:-

  • U.A.E. and India are considered as Home for Afghanistan.
  • U.A.E. is also considered as a second home for Pakistan.
  • All Home and Away stats of Pakistani and Afghani batsmen are calculated accordingly.

At Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AB de Villiers 77 3569 54.91 105.56 792.26 15.85
2 JH Kallis 131 5052 47.21 75.13 749.24 14.98
3 H Klaasen 29 1290 51.60 116.22 708.71 14.17
4 DA Miller 64 2152 48.91 107.22 669.35 13.39
5 JN Rhodes 93 2672 38.72 83.37 663.80 13.28
6 F du Plessis 49 1998 47.57 94.33 642.73 12.85
7 WJ Cronje 66 2279 41.44 77.18 629.93 12.60
8 HE van der Dussen 35 1348 51.85 85.21 607.60 12.15
9 N Boje 20 719 39.94 94.48 589.47 11.79
10 L Klusener 22 516 39.69 99.04 587.23 11.74

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AB de Villiers 105 4963 61.27 101.00 857.65 68.61
2 JH Kallis 174 6353 43.81 71.42 699.82 55.99
3 F du Plessis 86 3499 47.93 85.68 662.65 53.01
4 DA Miller 79 2244 38.03 101.36 636.42 50.91
5 WJ Cronje 104 3213 37.36 76.21 635.17 50.81
6 H Klaasen 27 851 35.46 118.36 619.04 49.52
7 JN Rhodes 107 2971 33.76 79.59 606.54 48.52
8 L Klusener 37 922 31.79 85.21 543.02 43.44
9 N Boje 11 290 29.00 96.99 500.00 40.00
9 HE van der Dussen 30 1309 48.48 88.99 500.00 40.00

FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS

FC/UC RATING

Points to note:-

  • Unfamiliar Conditions (UC) is Outside Asia for Asians and In Asia for Non Asians.
  • Familiar Conditions (FC) are the opposite.

Familiar Conditions Rating

Non Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AB de Villiers 141 6437 56.96 104.23 899.93 18.00
2 JH Kallis 241 9110 45.32 73.52 753.21 15.06
3 F du Plessis 108 4607 50.08 91.05 730.78 14.62
4 DA Miller 104 3428 46.32 105.64 716.20 14.32
5 H Klaasen 35 1355 45.17 114.06 702.59 14.05
6 JN Rhodes 164 4742 37.05 82.27 675.65 13.51
7 HE van der Dussen 46 1898 52.72 86.94 661.98 13.24
8 WJ Cronje 125 3707 35.64 75.25 622.96 12.46
9 N Boje 23 838 39.90 95.88 607.77 12.16
10 L Klusener 43 1033 36.89 87.54 575.91 11.52

Unfamiliar Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AB de Villiers 41 2095 63.48 98.87 877.08 70.17
2 JH Kallis 64 2295 45.00 71.12 720.09 57.61
3 WJ Cronje 45 1785 48.24 79.58 700.38 56.03
4 H Klaasen 21 786 41.37 122.62 652.21 52.18
5 DA Miller 39 968 33.38 99.18 598.76 47.90
6 HE van der Dussen 19 759 44.65 87.24 572.17 45.77
7 F du Plessis 27 890 38.70 77.93 534.68 42.77
8 JN Rhodes 36 901 31.07 76.75 513.98 41.12
9 N Boje 8 171 24.43 91.94 500.00 40.00
10 L Klusener 16 405 28.93 95.74 475.19 38.01

CONDITIONS RATING

The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 20%.

RANK BATSMAN AWAY HOME UC FC CON PTS
1 AB de Villiers 68.61 15.85 70.17 18.00 172.62
2 JH Kallis 55.99 14.98 57.61 15.06 143.64
3 WJ Cronje 50.81 12.60 56.03 12.46 131.90
4 H Klaasen 49.52 14.17 52.18 14.05 129.93
5 DA Miller 50.91 13.39 47.90 14.32 126.53
6 F du Plessis 53.01 12.85 42.77 14.62 123.26
7 JN Rhodes 48.52 13.28 41.12 13.51 116.43
8 HE van der Dussen 40.00 12.15 45.77 13.24 111.17
9 L Klusener 43.44 11.74 38.01 11.52 104.72
10 N Boje 40.00 11.79 40.00 12.16 103.94

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of three parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

The three secondary criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
World Cup 150.00
Impact Innings 150.00
Top Form 100.00

WORLD CUP

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 5

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AB de Villiers 12 835 92.78 126.52 791.20 118.68
2 F du Plessis 21 926 57.88 86.54 658.07 98.71
3 HE van der Dussen 16 759 54.21 86.84 653.71 98.06
4 JH Kallis 32 1148 45.92 74.40 649.15 97.37
5 DA Miller 21 816 48.00 113.33 617.58 92.64
6 H Klaasen 10 373 41.44 133.21 529.86 79.48
7 N Boje 1 29 29.00 78.38 500.00 75.00
7 L Klusener 3 73 36.50 155.32 500.00 75.00
9 WJ Cronje 20 476 29.75 80.54 489.46 73.42
10 JN Rhodes 15 287 20.50 87.23 446.91 67.04
Impact Innings (II)

Impact Innings are those innings which have an impact in terms of Runs or Strike Rate. Know All About II. Points to note about II:-

  • Both Inns are clubbed together.
  • A Batsman should score at least 25 runs to qualify.
  • An Inn is included in II if it is 30.00% of the total runs of the higher total or
  • The runs are 10.00% of the total runs and
  • The SR is high or in a successful chase while being Not Out.

IMPACT INNINGS

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 30

RANK BATSMAN DIS II II/Dis % RAT WTG
1 AB de Villiers 146 71 48.63 888.20 133.23
2 JH Kallis 252 72 28.57 602.24 90.34
3 H Klaasen 49 19 38.78 585.60 87.84
4 WJ Cronje 141 43 30.50 552.80 82.92
5 N Boje 28 9 32.14 547.55 82.13
6 L Klusener 42 13 30.95 527.05 79.06
7 JN Rhodes 157 46 29.30 526.74 79.01
8 DA Miller 103 32 31.07 509.33 76.40
9 F du Plessis 115 39 33.91 500.41 75.06
10 HE van der Dussen 53 16 30.19 459.67 68.95
TOP FORM RATING

Points to note:-

  • Top Form is calculated by taking the best 50 consecutive innings of a batsman.
  • Only Inns against Non Weak Teams are considered in the rating.
  • Non Weak Teams may be found in the last section.

TOP FORM

Min Innings Vs Non Weak Teams: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AB de Villiers 50 2848 76.97 117.78 901.15 90.12
2 F du Plessis 50 2553 63.83 94.03 739.33 73.93
3 H Klaasen 50 1978 46.00 119.73 721.14 72.11
4 JH Kallis 50 2062 51.55 76.12 686.21 68.62
5 HE van der Dussen 50 2219 56.90 88.65 667.64 66.76
6 JN Rhodes 50 1726 50.76 88.38 666.10 66.61
7 DA Miller 50 1780 55.63 104.03 655.33 65.53
8 WJ Cronje 50 1811 45.28 87.78 654.26 65.43
9 L Klusener 50 1235 33.38 90.15 593.30 59.33
10 N Boje 31 1009 36.04 95.19 551.18 55.12

SECONDARY RATING

The Secondary Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 40%.

RANK BATSMAN WC TF II SEC RAT
1 AB de Villiers 118.68 90.12 133.23 342.03
2 JH Kallis 97.37 68.62 90.34 256.33
3 F du Plessis 98.71 73.93 75.06 247.71
4 H Klaasen 79.48 72.11 87.84 239.43
5 DA Miller 92.64 65.53 76.40 234.57
6 HE van der Dussen 98.06 66.76 68.95 233.77
7 WJ Cronje 73.42 65.43 82.92 221.76
8 L Klusener 75.00 59.33 79.06 213.39
9 JN Rhodes 67.04 66.61 79.01 212.66
10 N Boje 75.00 55.12 82.13 212.25

OVERALL RATING

OVERALL Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts.

RANK OV RANK BATSMAN NAT PRI PTS CON PTS SEC PTS FIN RAT
1 3 AB de Villiers SA 342.46 172.62 342.03 857.11
2 11 JH Kallis SA 300.34 143.64 256.33 700.31
3 30 H Klaasen SA 274.20 129.93 239.43 643.56
4 32 F du Plessis SA 268.43 123.26 247.71 639.39
5 36 DA Miller SA 269.95 126.53 234.57 631.04
6 42 WJ Cronje SA 261.29 131.90 221.76 614.95
7 55 HE van der Dussen SA 252.02 111.17 233.77 596.95
8 57 JN Rhodes SA 261.86 116.43 212.66 590.95
9 84 L Klusener SA 231.44 104.72 213.39 549.55
10 86 N Boje SA 231.30 103.94 212.25 547.49

NON WEAK TEAMS

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1970s WI ENG AUS NZ PAK SL IND
1980s WI ENG AUS PAK IND NZ SL ZIM
1990s SA AUS PAK WI IND SL ENG NZ ZIM
2000s AUS SA SL PAK IND NZ ENG WI BAN
2010s IND SA AUS ENG NZ PAK SL BAN WI
2020s IND NZ SL AUS PAK SA BAN ENG WI AFG

TOP TEAMS

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1970s WI ENG AUS NZ PAK
1980s WI ENG AUS PAK IND NZ
1990s SA AUS PAK WI IND SL ENG
2000s AUS SA SL PAK IND NZ ENG
2010s IND SA AUS ENG NZ PAK SL
2020s IND NZ SL AUS PAK SA BAN

Leave a Comment