It’s not often you see such a scene in ODI cricket—when the top-order fails to deliver and suddenly a pace bowler walks out with the bat and completely changes the course of the match. The name Matthew Ford might not have been familiar to many, but after Friday, it will be etched in the record books—right at the top!
The 23-year-old West Indian, primarily known for his bowling, unleashed a fiery batting display out of nowhere.
In the second ODI of the series against Ireland in Dublin, Ford smashed a half-century in just 16 balls, equalling the record for the fastest fifty in ODI history. That record had long been held solely by South African legend AB de Villiers, who also hit a 50 off 16 balls against West Indies back in 2015.
What made Ford’s innings particularly remarkable is the fact that he’s a fast bowler by trade. Before this match, his batting average across 9 ODIs was only 16.66. Yet, batting at number 8, he tore apart the Irish bowling with a blistering 58 off just 19 balls, featuring 8 sixes and 2 fours—a staggering 56 of his runs came from boundaries.
This innings set a new record for the highest percentage of runs from boundaries (96.55%) in any fifty-plus ODI score. The previous best was held by Andre Fletcher (96.15%). Ford also set a new record for the most sixes hit by a number 8 or lower in an ODI innings (8 sixes), surpassing the previous joint record of 7 by Abdul Razzaq and Tanwir Afzal.
West Indies ended their innings with a commanding 352 runs, thanks in large part to Curtis’ century (102) and Ford’s explosive finish.
UA / TDS
