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Fastest fifties in Test cricket

May 28, 2007 13:01 IST

Mohammad Ashraful on Sunday raced to his fifty in just 27 minutes and off 26 balls with nine fours and two sixes in Bangladesh's second innings of Mirpur Test.

Mirpur Test: Report | Images | Scorecard

Ashraful's fifty is now the fastest ever in Test cricket history in terms of minutes and second (joint) fastest in terms of balls. The accompanying tables have the details.

Fastest Test fifties (by minutes)
Mins Batsman Countries Venue Season
27 Mohammad Ashraful (67) Ban v Ind Mirpur 2007
28 JT Brown (140) Eng v Aus Melbourne 1894-95
29 SA Durani (61*) Ind v Eng Kanpur 1963-64
30 EAV Williams (72) WI v Eng Bridgetown 1947-48
30 BR Taylor (124) NZ v WI Auckland 1968-69

Fastest Test fifties (by balls)

Balls Batsman Countries Venue Season
24 JH Kallis (54) SA v Zim Cape Town 2004-05
26 Shahid Afridi (58) Pak v Ind Bangalore 2004-05
26 Mohammad Ashraful (67) Ban v Ind Mirpur 2007
27 Mohammad Yousuf (50) Pak v SA Cape Town 2002-03

Notes:
- Australia's VT Trumper is shown at some places with a time of 22 minutes for his fifty during his innings of 63 against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1902-03. However Trumper took no less than 45 minutes for his fifty.

- Some sources show England's IT Botham with a 26-ball fifty against India at Delhi in 1981-82. Botham actually took 28 balls to do so.

Rajneesh Gupta