After we did articles for the fastest Hundreds in test and ODIs, now it is time to acknowledge the half centuries that these players make in order to be able to make these hundreds and today we will talk about the players who have made the fastest half centuries in the history of test cricket because traditionally the players tend to play slow at the start of the innings so the batters who score the fastest half centuries in test cricket deserve to be acknowledged.
There are a few names on this list that might surprise a lot of readers and then there are some that will be expected on this list. This will be a fun article to write so let’s get to the Top 5 Players with Fastest Half centuries in test cricket history.
Misbah-Ul-Haq (21 Balls)
The fastest half century in the history of test cricket has been scored by the Pakistani legend Misbah-Ul-Haq and he did in just 21 balls and he did it against Australia which had a top class bowling attack and he just went hammer and tonks in the first 50 runs as he hit a lot of fours and 1 six as well and created a world record in 2014 and it has been 8 years and it is still intact which tells us how special of a half century that was from the then Pakistan captain.
David Warner (23 Balls)
I said before that there will be a few names that we expect on this list and David Warner is one I’d then as he hit a 23 ball half century and he did it against Pakistan at the SCG in 2017. He was in belligerent form that day and he hit 7 fours and 3 sixes in his half century meaning a total of 46 runs in boundaries alone. This was a brutal test match Innings that handed the momentum of the match to Australia.
Jacques Kallis (24 Balls)
I also said before that there will be some names in this list that the readers will be surprised to see and this is one of those names. Usually we associate Jacques Kallis with slow well built Innings and nobody expected him to hit the 3rd fastest half century in the history of test cricket and he did it against Zimbabwe in 2005 and he was at his best smashing the Zimbabwe bowlers all around the Newlands in Cape Town. He hit 2 fours and 5 sixes to get to his 50 that means 38 runs in boundaries and he hit big Sixes and it was a new side to his batting.
Shane Shillingford (25 Balls)
The 4th batter on this list is a West Indies batter and it is good to see that all the four players so far in this list are from different countries. Shane Shillingford hit a 25 ball half century at a strike rate of 200 vs a great New Zealand team in 2014 and he gave the West Indies much needed momentum in Sabina Park. He hit 3 fours and 5 sixes in his innings which ultimately did not help West Indies save the test match but a number 11 batter scoring the 4th fastest half century in test cricket is not something a lot of people would have expected.
Mohammad Ashraful (26 Balls)
The 5th and last player on this list is an all time great of Bangladesh cricket Mohammad Ashraful and he hit the 5th fastest half century against India in 2007 at Dhaka vs a great attack of India. He absolutely destroyed the Indian bowlers all over and he hit 9 fours and 1 six while getting to his 50 which means 42 runs in boundaries. This innings did not help Bangladesh In this test match as they were easily beaten by India but he got himself in the top 5.
