Jonty Rhodes is one of the most famous cricketers of the modern era and not because of his bowling but because of his fielding. He is the greatest fielder of all time and all the other fielders are judged on the basis of how close they are to Jonty Rhodes. He has played in 52 Test Matches for South Africa and in those he has scored 2532 runs at an average of 35.66. He has 3 Test Hundreds to his name. He has also played in 245 ODIs for South Africa. He has made 5935 runs at an average of 35.12. He also hit 2 centuries in ODIs
Let’s look at the Top 5 Best Batting Performances of Jonty Rhodes
1) 121 vs Pakistan (1996)
This is the highest score in international cricket and it came in ODI Cricket. He made this brilliant Hundred against Pakistan when they had the best bowling attack in the world. He came to bat lower down the order and he made 121 from 114 balls. He hit 12 fours in this innings meaning 48 runs in boundaries. He had a strike rate of 106.14. His innings ensured that South Africa won the match by 62 runs. This was the innings that told the world that he is a brilliant batter.
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2) 117 vs England (1998)
This is his highest test score and it came in 1998 at Lord’s . Jonty Rhodes showed that he is a proper test match batter. He bats lower down the order and he faced 200 balls in this innings. He had a strike rate of 58.50 and he smashed 14 fours and 1 six in this innings meaning a total of 62 runs in boundaries. This was the innings that made him a great batter in test cricket as well. South Africa won this match by 10 wickets and they beat England at home.
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3) 101 vs Sri Lanka (1993)
This was his first test century and he made this batting second when the pressure was on South Africa. He was known as the best fielder in the world but he wanted to show that he was a very capable batter as well in test cricket. And in this brutal Hundred he only took 107 balls to hit this century. He had a great strike rate of 94.39 and he hit 14 fours and 2 sixes in this Innings meaning 68 runs in boundaries. This match was a draw but seeing Jonty Rhodes show a different facet to his cricket was wonderful.
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4) 103 vs West Indies (1999)
This was the 3rd and last century in test cricket. This was perhaps his most brutal innings in international cricket be it Test Cricket or ODIs. This was a masterclass in power hitting as he only took 95 balls to make 103 runs. He absolutely smashed 8 fours and 6 huge sixes in this innings meaning 68 runs in boundaries. He has an amazing strike tof 109 in this innings. Jonty Rhodes was showing that he can hit it to all parts. South Africa won this match by a big margin of 351 runs.
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5) 107* vs New Zealand (2002)
This is the last innings in this list and his 5th hundred in international cricket. This was in the later stages of his career and he was sublime throughout this innings. He faced 135 balls in this innings and he only hit 9 fours in this Innings meaning 36 runs in boundaries. He ran a lot for his runs in this match. He had a strike rate of 79.26 and he played such a good knock that South Africa won this match by 67 runs. He has shown that he can be destructive and he can also be dependable.
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