Stats: AB de Villiers' slowest Twenty20 fifty
The South African captain de Villiers took 49 balls for his fifty; the slowest in his overall Twenty20 career.
AB de Villiers’ average record in the Twenty20 Internationals stayed the same as he managed to score a snail-paced fifty in the first T20I against England along with Farhaan Behardien as their partnership turned out to be a match losing one.
The pair took over the responsibilities with South Africa reeling at 32/3 in the 5th over after they elected to bat first. Both of them scored unbeaten fifties but could only take their side to a mere 142/3 in 20 overs, which the home side chased down in just 14.3 overs.
The South African captain de Villiers took 49 balls for his fifty; the slowest in his overall Twenty20 career in which he has scored 37 fifties and two centuries. His bettered his previous slowest fifty by 6 balls which came off 43 balls vs New Zealand 10 years ago.
AB de Villiers’ slowest fifties in Twenty20 cricket:
| Balls for fifty | Opposition | Runs | Balls faced in inns | Venue | Date |
| 49 | England | 65* | 58 | Southampton | 21-Jun-17 |
| 43 | New Zealand | 52* | 47 | Johannesburg | 23-Nov-07 |
| 41 | India | 63 | 51 | Nottingham | 16-Jun-09 |
| 41 | Rajasthan Royals | 57 | 45 | Bangalore | 29-Apr-15 |
De Villiers’ 49-ball fifty was, in fact, the joint slowest by a South African player as he equalled JP Duminy’s record. Behardien wasn’t too far behind his skipper as he took 47 balls for his fifty; the 2nd slowest by a Saffer in the T20I format.
Slowest fifties in T20I cricket for South Africa:
| Balls for fifty | Name | Runs | Balls faced in inns | Opposition | Venue | Date |
| 49 | Jean-Paul Duminy | 51 | 52 | Sri Lanka | Colombo (RPS) | 2-Aug-13 |
| 49 | AB de Villiers | 65* | 58 | England | Southampton | 21-Jun-17 |
| 47 | Hashim Amla | 56* | 52 | Sri Lanka | Delhi | 28-Mar-16 |
| 47 | Jean-Paul Duminy | 67 | 53 | Australia | Cape Town | 13-Oct-11 |
| 47 | Farhaan Behardien | 64* | 52 | England | Southampton | 21-Jun-17 |
The ABD-Behardien pair added 110 runs in 15.5 overs for the 4th wicket at a run-rate of 6.94, the 3rd lowest RR among the 105 century stands which have been recorded in this format so far. The pair needed 90 balls to get to the partnership milestone; the 2nd most balls consumed in any 100-run stand in T20Is.
Slowest century stands in T20I cricket:
| Partners | Team | Wicket | Runs | Overs | RR | Inns | Opposition | Ground | Date |
| KJ Coetzer, RR Watson | Scotland | 1 | 102 | 17.2 | 5.88 | 2 | Kenya | Belfast | 4-Aug-08 |
| Muhammad Usman, Rameez Shahzad | UAE | 4 | 100 | 15 | 6.66 | 2 | P.N.G. | Abu Dhabi | 14-Apr-17 |
| F Behardien, AB de Villiers | South Africa | 4 | 110* | 15.5 | 6.94 | 1 | England | Southampton | 21-Jun-17 |
| Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal | Pakistan | 4 | 114* | 15.3 | 7.35 | 2 | U.A.E. | Dhaka | 29-Feb-16 |
| Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik | Pakistan | 4 | 106 | 14.1 | 7.48 | 2 | India | Bengaluru | 25-Dec-12 |
(Stats as on 21st June 2017)
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