Wellington: AB de Villiers became the fastest batsman to reach 9,000 runs in one-day internationals when he made 85 for South Africa in the third ODI against New Zealand in Wellington on Saturday.

He is the 18th player and second South African behind Jacques Kallis to reach the 9,000 mark but has the highest average of 53.86 and best strike rate of 100.00.

De Villiers reached the milestone in his 205th innings, 23 faster than the previous record held by Sourav Ganguly.

The record for the most ODI runs is held by India’s Sachin Tendulkar with 18,426 at an average of 44.83 and a strike rate of 86.23.

De Villiers, who now has 9,080 ODI runs, has the highest score of 162 not out against the West Indies two years ago.