Best South African Batsmen In ODIs Featured

Top 10 South African Batsmen in ODIs

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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 batsmen in ODI Cricket of all time.

*Note: All ODI Ratings are updated till 2025-02-15

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. TOP FORM
5.3. IMPACT INNINGS
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.

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.
Top Teams (TT) and Non Weak Teams (NWT)

Some sections consider performances only against the top teams and non weak teams. 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) 40

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 1991
Era 2 MP between 1990 And 2011
Era 3 MP greater than 2010

Criteria: Points For Runs Scored

RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS DL Haynes WI 1978 1994 1986 237 8648 150.00
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS SR Tendulkar IND 1989 2012 2000.5 452 18426 200.00
1 JH Kallis SA 1996 2014 2005 314 11579 125.68
2 HH Gibbs SA 1996 2010 2003 240 8094 87.85
3 G Kirsten SA 1993 2003 1998 185 6798 73.79
4 WJ Cronje SA 1992 2000 1996 175 5565 60.40
5 L Klusener SA 1996 2004 2000 137 3576 38.81
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS V Kohli IND 2008 2025 2016.5 290 14181 180.00
1 AB de Villiers SA 2005 2018 2011.5 218 9577 121.56
2 HM Amla SA 2008 2019 2013.5 178 8113 102.98
3 Q de Kock SA 2013 2023 2018 155 6770 85.93
4 F du Plessis SA 2011 2019 2015 136 5507 69.90
5 DA Miller SA 2010 2025 2017.5 154 4611 58.53

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) 2500

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS 50s AVE R AVE RAT
TS MG Bevan 196 67 6912 46 53.58 56.67 100.00
1 AB de Villiers 218 39 9577 53 53.50 52.48 92.61
2 HM Amla 178 14 8113 39 49.47 48.00 84.71
3 L Klusener 137 50 3576 19 41.10 46.79 82.56
4 JH Kallis 314 53 11579 86 44.36 45.71 80.66
5 F du Plessis 136 20 5507 35 47.47 44.47 78.48
6 Q de Kock 155 7 6770 30 45.74 44.09 77.81
7 DA Miller 154 45 4611 24 42.30 42.77 75.47
8 G Kirsten 185 19 6798 45 40.95 42.50 75.00
9 WJ Cronje 175 31 5565 39 38.65 40.60 71.65
10 HH Gibbs 240 16 8094 37 36.13 37.17 65.59

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS 50s AVE R AVE RAT
TS MG Bevan 143 47 5120 34 53.33 56.41 150.00
1 AB de Villiers 131 28 5682 36 55.17 54.11 143.89
2 JH Kallis 200 33 7060 54 42.28 43.56 115.83
3 Q de Kock 91 4 3919 14 45.05 43.42 115.46
4 L Klusener 97 33 2419 14 37.80 43.02 114.41
5 G Kirsten 129 13 4800 33 41.38 42.94 114.20
6 F du Plessis 83 10 3242 20 44.41 41.60 110.63
7 WJ Cronje 123 21 3962 27 38.84 40.81 108.52
8 HM Amla 110 6 4185 23 40.24 39.05 103.84
9 DA Miller 97 24 2714 15 37.18 37.59 99.96
10 HH Gibbs 148 5 4782 20 33.44 34.40 91.47

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) 2500
Min Average 25

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN RUNS BF SR R SR RAT
TS GJ Maxwell 3990 3148 126.75 112.45 100.00
1 AB de Villiers 9577 9473 101.10 94.39 83.94
2 L Klusener 3576 3979 89.87 92.76 82.49
3 DA Miller 4611 4447 103.69 90.78 80.73
4 Q de Kock 6770 7005 96.65 85.30 75.85
5 HH Gibbs 8094 9724 83.24 83.56 74.31
6 WJ Cronje 5565 7282 76.42 81.63 72.59
7 HM Amla 8113 9179 88.39 80.16 71.28
8 F du Plessis 5507 6215 88.61 79.96 71.10
9 G Kirsten 6798 9442 72.00 75.11 66.80
10 JH Kallis 11579 15891 72.87 73.93 65.74

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN RUNS BF SR R SR RAT
TS GJ Maxwell 2833 2409 117.60 104.33 150.00
1 L Klusener 2419 2641 91.59 94.54 135.92
2 AB de Villiers 5682 5824 97.56 91.09 130.95
3 DA Miller 2714 2732 99.34 86.97 125.04
4 Q de Kock 3919 4157 94.27 83.20 119.62
5 WJ Cronje 3962 5105 77.61 82.90 119.18
6 HH Gibbs 4782 5959 80.25 80.56 115.82
7 F du Plessis 3242 3758 86.27 77.85 111.92
8 HM Amla 4185 4960 84.38 76.52 110.01
9 G Kirsten 4800 6778 70.82 73.88 106.22
10 JH Kallis 7060 9916 71.20 72.24 103.85

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* 119 149.71 150.00
RANK ERA 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE HS RAT
TS SR Tendulkar 200* 186* 175 163* 143 141* 141 164.14 150.00
1 HH Gibbs 175 153 143 125 119 118 116* 135.57 123.89
2 JH Kallis 139 121* 119* 113* 111 109* 109* 117.29 107.18
3 G Kirsten 133* 118* 116 115* 115 112* 106 116.43 106.40
4 WJ Cronje 112 100* 98* 97 94 91* 90 97.43 89.03
5 L Klusener 103* 101* 99 92 88* 83 75* 91.57 83.68
RANK ERA 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE HS RAT
TS RG Sharma 264 209 208* 171* 162 159 152* 189.29 150.00
1 Q de Kock 178 174 168* 138* 135 135 128 150.86 119.55
2 AB de Villiers 176 162* 149 146 136* 128 125* 146.00 115.70
3 HM Amla 154 153* 150 140 133 129 127 140.86 111.62
4 F du Plessis 185 133* 126 125 120 112* 111 130.29 103.25
5 DA Miller 139 130* 118* 117* 101 100* 85* 112.86 89.43

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 BB McCullum 77/25 33/11 80/28 51/22 59/26 253.15 150.00
1 AB de Villiers 149/44 162/66 54/27 119/61 102/59 212.88 126.14
2 L Klusener 41/18 31/16 27/14 35/19 36/21 199.39 118.15
3 DA Miller 49/18 50/27 82/45 53/30 36/21 167.65 99.34
4 WJ Cronje 39/22 39/25 58/42 31/23 38/31 153.12 90.73
5 HH Gibbs 175/111 61/40 97/66 74/53 40/30 149.58 88.63
6 JH Kallis 53/26 53/36 80/59 37/30 45/38 143.87 85.25
7 Q de Kock 48/26 178/113 62/41 45/30 138/96 135.85 80.50
8 F du Plessis 45/19 73/50 34/25 91/67 27/20 134.61 79.76
9 HM Amla 40/23 45/30 38/27 50/36 62/47 130.75 77.47
10 G Kirsten 52/32 44/38 84/81 101/107 32/34 111.83 66.26

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 half of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 500 pts.

RANK BATSMAN PRO CON ATT BIP QIP RAT PRI PTS
1 AB de Villiers 121.56 236.50 214.89 115.70 126.14 814.80 407.40
2 JH Kallis 125.68 196.50 169.60 107.18 85.25 684.20 342.10
3 Q de Kock 85.93 193.27 195.48 119.55 80.50 674.72 337.36
4 HM Amla 102.98 188.55 181.29 111.62 77.47 661.92 330.96
5 L Klusener 38.81 196.97 218.41 83.68 118.15 656.02 328.01
6 HH Gibbs 87.85 157.06 190.14 123.89 88.63 647.58 323.79
7 DA Miller 58.53 175.43 205.77 89.43 99.34 628.51 314.25
8 F du Plessis 69.90 189.11 183.02 103.25 79.76 625.04 312.52
9 WJ Cronje 60.40 180.16 191.77 89.03 90.73 612.11 306.05
10 G Kirsten 73.79 189.20 173.01 106.40 66.26 608.66 304.33

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 200.00
Away 800.00
Familiar Conditions 200.00
Unfamiliar Conditions 800.00

HOME/AWAY

HOME/AWAY RATING

Points to note:-

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

At Home

Min Innings Vs Non Weak Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AB de Villiers 91 3994 52.55 102.31 735.06 147.01
2 JH Kallis 135 5178 46.65 74.92 671.62 134.32
3 Q de Kock 63 3219 52.77 101.42 670.06 134.01
4 HH Gibbs 102 3556 37.04 86.39 643.96 128.79
5 HM Amla 69 3498 54.66 90.57 641.39 128.28
6 L Klusener 53 1526 52.62 92.60 624.08 124.82
7 DA Miller 66 2158 47.96 106.57 604.23 120.85
8 F du Plessis 50 2008 46.70 94.23 575.79 115.16
9 WJ Cronje 67 2319 42.16 77.25 568.12 113.62
10 G Kirsten 63 2068 36.93 71.56 516.91 103.38

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Non Weak Teams: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AB de Villiers 127 5583 54.20 100.25 818.79 655.03
2 HM Amla 109 4615 46.15 86.80 673.85 539.08
3 JH Kallis 179 6401 42.67 71.28 644.25 515.40
4 F du Plessis 86 3499 47.93 85.68 638.77 511.01
5 Q de Kock 92 3551 40.82 92.69 634.28 507.42
6 G Kirsten 122 4730 43.00 72.19 619.38 495.51
7 L Klusener 84 2050 35.34 87.95 614.04 491.23
8 DA Miller 88 2453 38.33 101.28 608.68 486.94
9 HH Gibbs 138 4538 35.45 80.92 607.60 486.08
10 WJ Cronje 108 3246 36.47 75.84 589.53 471.62

FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS

FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS 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 Non Weak Teams: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AB de Villiers 172 7384 52.37 101.74 869.36 173.87
2 JH Kallis 248 9262 44.53 73.37 744.91 148.98
3 HM Amla 141 6657 51.60 87.82 744.55 148.91
4 Q de Kock 120 5142 45.50 96.35 714.14 142.83
5 HH Gibbs 199 6669 35.85 83.69 710.51 142.10
6 L Klusener 108 2924 47.16 89.47 707.54 141.51
7 F du Plessis 109 4617 49.65 91.01 687.82 137.56
8 DA Miller 111 3525 45.78 105.07 678.05 135.61
9 WJ Cronje 130 3780 35.33 75.01 606.78 121.36
10 G Kirsten 140 4533 35.41 69.42 594.82 118.96

Unfamiliar Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Non Weak Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AB de Villiers 46 2193 57.71 99.01 850.01 680.01
2 G Kirsten 45 2265 59.61 77.78 734.28 587.43
3 Q de Kock 35 1628 46.51 97.60 725.55 580.44
4 JH Kallis 66 2317 43.72 70.90 687.49 550.00
5 WJ Cronje 45 1785 48.24 79.58 668.54 534.83
6 HM Amla 37 1456 41.60 91.06 650.29 520.23
7 HH Gibbs 41 1425 37.50 81.20 599.90 479.92
8 DA Miller 43 1086 33.94 99.45 586.56 469.25
9 F du Plessis 27 890 38.70 77.93 511.62 409.30
10 L Klusener 29 652 26.08 91.70 493.54 394.83

CONDITIONS RATING

The total of the above four criteria comes out to be 2,000.00 points. The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 200 pts.

RANK BATSMAN AWAY HOME UC FC TOT CON PTS
1 AB de Villiers 655.03 147.01 680.01 173.87 1,655.93 165.59
2 Q de Kock 507.42 134.01 580.44 142.83 1,364.70 136.47
3 JH Kallis 515.40 134.32 550.00 148.98 1,348.70 134.87
4 HM Amla 539.08 128.28 520.23 148.91 1,336.50 133.65
5 G Kirsten 495.51 103.38 587.43 118.96 1,305.28 130.53
6 WJ Cronje 471.62 113.62 534.83 121.36 1,241.44 124.14
7 HH Gibbs 486.08 128.79 479.92 142.10 1,236.89 123.69
8 DA Miller 486.94 120.85 469.25 135.61 1,212.64 121.26
9 F du Plessis 511.01 115.16 409.30 137.56 1,173.03 117.30
10 L Klusener 491.23 124.82 394.83 141.51 1,152.38 115.24

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 1,000.00
Top Form 1,000.00
Impact Innings 1,000.00

WORLD CUP

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 5

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 AB de Villiers 22 1207 63.53 117.30 792.81 792.81
2 HH Gibbs 23 1067 56.16 87.39 667.35 667.35
3 Q de Kock 27 1044 41.76 96.58 665.45 665.45
4 L Klusener 11 372 124.00 121.17 635.08 635.08
5 F du Plessis 21 926 57.88 86.54 604.34 604.34
6 JH Kallis 32 1148 45.92 74.40 603.48 603.48
7 DA Miller 21 816 48.00 113.33 586.85 586.85
8 HM Amla 22 842 42.10 83.20 498.92 498.92
9 G Kirsten 21 806 47.41 75.54 482.34 482.34
10 WJ Cronje 20 476 29.75 80.54 458.75 458.75
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 76.97 117.78 849.67 849.67
2 F du Plessis 50 2553 63.83 94.03 692.06 692.06
3 HM Amla 50 2728 59.30 91.51 691.85 691.85
4 L Klusener 50 1650 53.23 94.34 673.54 673.54
5 Q de Kock 50 2375 51.63 98.88 670.95 670.95
6 HH Gibbs 50 1976 43.91 85.43 656.26 656.26
7 G Kirsten 50 2195 48.78 75.77 648.50 648.50
8 JH Kallis 50 2062 51.55 76.12 645.68 645.68
9 WJ Cronje 50 1841 47.21 87.96 627.19 627.19
10 DA Miller 50 1780 55.63 104.03 607.26 607.26
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 179 72 40.22 847.93 847.93
2 L Klusener 87 32 36.78 580.12 580.12
3 HM Amla 164 53 32.32 560.86 560.86
4 JH Kallis 261 68 26.05 521.00 521.00
5 F du Plessis 116 34 29.31 496.93 496.93
6 WJ Cronje 144 37 25.69 466.63 466.63
7 DA Miller 109 30 27.52 461.91 461.91
8 HH Gibbs 224 53 23.66 443.10 443.10
9 Q de Kock 148 34 22.97 432.46 432.46
10 G Kirsten 166 35 21.08 405.90 405.90

SECONDARY RATING

The total of the above three criteria comes out to be 3,000.00 points. The Secondary Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the five criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 300 pts.

RANK BATSMAN WC TF II SEC RAT
1 AB de Villiers 79.28 84.97 84.79 249.04
2 L Klusener 63.51 67.35 58.01 188.87
3 F du Plessis 60.43 69.21 49.69 179.33
4 JH Kallis 60.35 64.57 52.10 177.02
5 Q de Kock 66.54 67.09 43.25 176.89
6 HH Gibbs 66.74 65.63 44.31 176.67
7 HM Amla 49.89 69.18 56.09 175.16
8 DA Miller 58.68 60.73 46.19 165.60
9 WJ Cronje 45.88 62.72 46.66 155.26
10 G Kirsten 48.23 64.85 40.59 153.67

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 407.40 165.59 249.04 822.03
2 24 JH Kallis SA 342.10 134.87 177.02 653.99
3 27 Q de Kock SA 337.36 136.47 176.89 650.72
4 35 HM Amla SA 330.96 133.65 175.16 639.77
5 39 L Klusener SA 328.01 115.24 188.87 632.12
6 46 HH Gibbs SA 323.79 123.69 176.67 624.15
7 57 F du Plessis SA 312.52 117.30 179.33 609.16
8 64 DA Miller SA 314.25 121.26 165.60 601.12
9 74 G Kirsten SA 304.33 130.53 153.67 588.53
10 78 WJ Cronje SA 306.05 124.14 155.26 585.46

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 PAK NZ AUS SL SA BAN ENG WI AFG

TOP TEAMS

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6
1970s WI ENG AUS NZ PAK SL
1980s WI ENG AUS PAK IND NZ
1990s SA AUS PAK WI IND SL
2000s AUS SA SL PAK IND NZ
2010s IND SA AUS ENG NZ PAK
2020s IND PAK NZ AUS SL SA
FULL RATING WITH ALL NATIONS

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