When you bat in the middle-order, you are either tasked with putting pressure off after the top-order collapses or carrying the good start forward.
Juggling between such situations is not easy. But a few batters found the right balance to pile up runs.
So here’s a look at the middle-order batters with the most runs in ODIs.
Most ODI Runs at Middle Order
| Player | Inns | Runs | Avg | HS | SR | 100s/50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mahela Jayawardene (Asia/SL) | 336 | 9896 | 32.44 | 128 | 77.36 | 12/64 |
| MS Dhoni (Asia/IND) | 276 | 9631 | 49.13 | 139* | 86.67 | 8/66 |
| Inzamam-ul-Haq (Asia/PAK) | 277 | 9190 | 39.44 | 123 | 75.79 | 6/65 |
| Yuvraj Singh (Asia/IND) | 262 | 8285 | 36.98 | 150 | 87.82 | 13/50 |
| Aravinda de Silva (SL) | 241 | 7960 | 37.37 | 145 | 82.01 | 10/56 |
| Ross Taylor (NZ) | 191 | 7853 | 50.33 | 181* | 83.58 | 19/47 |
| AB de Villiers (SA) | 169 | 7811 | 58.29 | 176 | 101.23 | 21/43 |
| Mohammad Yousuf (Asia/PAK) | 228 | 7678 | 39.37 | 129 | 74.11 | 10/51 |
| Mushfiqur Rahim (BAN) | 236 | 7448 | 37.42 | 144 | 80.9 | 9/46 |
| Steve Waugh (AUS) | 276 | 7341 | 33.67 | 120* | 76.45 | 3/45 |
| Arjuna Ranatunga (SL) | 249 | 7313 | 36.2 | 131* | 77.86 | 4/48 |
| Mohammad Azharuddin (IND) | 240 | 7310 | 37.48 | 153* | 75.83 | 5/45 |
| Eoin Morgan (ENG/IRE) | 206 | 6902 | 39.44 | 148 | 93.84 | 13/42 |
| Michael Bevan (AUS) | 191 | 6775 | 53.76 | 108* | 74.52 | 6/45 |
| Javed Miandad (PAK) | 196 | 6565 | 40.77 | 119* | 65.52 | 7/43 |
Key Insights on Leading Middle-Order Run-Scorers in ODI Cricket
Most Runs and Century Records by Middle-Order Batters in ODIs
Mahela Jayawardene has scored the most runs as a middle-order batter in ODIs. He aggregated 9896 of his 12650 career runs while batting between No. 4 and 7 for Sri Lanka. (Check the overall leading run-scorers in ODIs here.)
AB de Villiers has smashed the most centuries as a middle-order batter in ODIs, with 21 hundreds for South Africa.
Jayawardene, meanwhile, has the most fifth-plus scores in the middle order in ODIs, with 76 knocks to his name.
India’s MS Dhoni (74) and Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq (71) are the other middle-order batters with more than 70 fifty-plus scores in ODIs.
Dhoni has scored all of his 9631 runs as a designated wicketkeeper. This is the most runs by a wicketkeeper while batting between No. 4 and 7 in ODIs.
Highest Batting Averages and Strike Rates as Middle-Order Batters in ODIs
De Villiers has the highest batting average as a middle-order batter in ODIs, with his 7811 runs coming at 58.29 (minimum 50 innings batted).
KL Rahul (India), Daryl Mitchell (New Zealand), Michael Bevan (Australia), Ramnaresh Sarwan (West Indies) and Ross Taylor (New Zealand) are the other middle-order batters to average above 50 in ODIs.
Shahid Afridi has the highest batting strike rate in the middle order in ODIs, having scored 3189 runs at 128.95 (minimum 2000 balls faced).
Glenn Maxwell (Australia), Jos Buttler (England), David Miller (South Africa) and de Villiers are the other middle-order batters with strike rates above 100. (Relive the MAD MAX show here!)
Most Boundaries and Highest Scores by Middle-Order Batters in ODIs
India’s Yuvraj Singh has smashed the most fours as a middle-order batter in ODIs, with 860 boundaries.
Jayawardene is the other middle-order batter with more than 800 fours, having scored 832.
Dhoni, meanwhile, has struck the most sixes in the middle order, with 205 of them coming off his bat.
Maxwell has registered the highest individual score as a middle-order batter in ODIs. He smashed an unbeaten 201 against Afghanistan in Mumbai in the 2023 World Cup. This is also the highest individual score in an ODI run chase.
Most Runs by Venue, Series and Calendar Year as Middle-Order Batters in ODIs
Eoin Morgan aggregated 4067 of his 6902 runs in England. This is the most runs by a middle-order batter at home in ODIs.
Dhoni, on the other hand, has scored the most runs as a middle-order batter in away ODIs, with 4097 runs in 116 outings.
Australia’s George Bailey has scored the most runs as a middle-order batter in a bilateral ODI series. He accumulated 478 runs on the six-match India tour in 2013.
Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim has aggregated the most runs as a middle-order batter at a single venue in ODIs. He scored 2591 runs in 83 innings at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Inzamam-ul-Haq has scored the most runs as a middle-order batter against an ODI team. He collected 2388 runs against India across 61 innings.
Jayawardene is the other middle-order batter with 2000-plus runs against an opponent, having scored 2078 runs against India in 63 innings.
Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq holds the record for the most runs as a middle-order batter in a calendar year in ODIs. He scored 1373 runs in 32 innings in 2013.
Ross Taylor aggregated 7690 of his 7853 runs at No. 4, the most by a batter in that position in ODIs.
Arjuna Ranatunga has scored the most runs as a No. 5 batter in ODIs, with 4675 of his 7313 runs coming in this slot for Sri Lanka.
Dhoni scored 4164 of his 9631 runs at No. 6, the most by a batter in this position in ODIs.
Chris Harris (New Zealand), Ravindra Jadeja (India) and Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan) have scored 2000-plus runs in the No. 7 position in ODIs.
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