Stats: Top 10 players with highest ODI batting averages as captain
Australia defeated England 3-2 in the five-match ODI series after the 2015 World Cup champions got the better of the hosts in the fifth ODI held at Old Trafford on Sunday. Australia won the match comfortably by 8 wickets thanks to Mitchell Marsh’s brilliant 4-wicket haul that earned him the Man of the Match as well as the Man of the Series awards.
The biggest talking point however in yesterday’s match was England skipper Eoin Morgan getting struck by a bouncer from Mitchell Starc that forced the 29-year-old off the field of play. It resulted in a disappointing end to Morgan’s fantastic series with the bat and had England went on to win the match, it would have been Morgan collecting the Man of the Series award instead of Marsh.
Still in his early days as skipper, Morgan scored 278 runs at an average of 69.5 in the series against Australia and that has cemented his position at the 3rd spot in the list of players with highest ODI batting averages as captain. The 29-year-old has overcome the disastrous World Cup campaign where his side was knocked out in the group stages itself and had a brilliant outing against New Zealand as well before unleashing against Australia.
Morgan now has 1240 runs as England skipper in 29 matches at an average of 51.6 which is only behind South Africa’s AB de Villiers (67.7) and India’s MS Dhoni (56.4) in terms of ODI averages as skipper of the side. Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews is the only other player apart from the trio in the Top 10, who is still leading his side in the ODI format while Chris Gayle joins the four as players who are still active in the 50-over game.
Here is a look at the complete Top 10 list of players with the highest ODI batting averages as captain.
| No | Player | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | 100s/50s | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AB de Villiers (South Africa) | 71 | 67 | 3522 | 67.73 | 9/21 | 162* |
| 2 | MS Dhoni (India) | 181 | 156 | 6143 | 56.36 | 6/45 | 139* |
| 3 | Eoin Morgan (England) | 29 | 25 | 1240 | 51.6 | 3/10 | 121 |
| 4 | Michael Clarke (Australia) | 74 | 69 | 2745 | 45.75 | 5/17 | 117 |
| 5 | Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka) | 72 | 63 | 2144 | 45.62 | 1/14 | 139* |
| 6 | Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan) | 87 | 83 | 3003 | 44.82 | 0/27 | 96* |
| 7 | Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan) | 89 | 78 | 2794 | 44.35 | 2/19 | 123 |
| 8 | Chris Gayle (West Indies) | 53 | 51 | 1966 | 43.69 | 4/12 | 135 |
| 9 | Ricky Ponting (Australia) | 230 | 220 | 8497 | 42.91 | 22/51 | 164 |
| 10 | Rahul Dravid (India) | 79 | 75 | 2658 | 42.19 | 2/25 | 105 |