May 24, 2025 - Caribbean batter Matthew Forde set a world record in the second match of the three-match ODI series against Ireland. His fast innings in this match in Dublin changed the game and made cricket history. He scored the fastest half-century in ODI cricket and set the world record for the highest percentage of runs scored from boundaries.

West Indies' innings was opened by Keichi Carty and captain Shai Hope. The team got a strong start thanks to these two batsmen. Carty scored a brilliant century, making 102 runs off 109 balls. Hope also played well, scoring 49 runs off 57 balls.

When Roston Chase was out for 24 runs off 25 balls, Matthew Forde came to bat with the West Indies' score at 246 for 6. Then, a batting storm began.

This right-handed batsman attacked the bowlers from the start. Sixes kept coming off his bat one after another. It seemed like he forgot how to score runs without hitting sixes.

Forde hit five sixes and a single in his first 10 balls. The next six balls were just as powerful — he completed his half-century in only 16 balls, with a four, two sixes, and a single.

This half-century made him part of cricket history. He shared the record with South African legend AB de Villiers, who also scored a half-century in 16 balls against the West Indies in 2015.

At one point, Forde was on 42 runs off 13 balls and had a chance to break de Villiers' record. However, he missed that chance when he failed to play a ramp shot off Barry McCarthy’s next ball. But he quickly made up for it by hitting two sixes in the next two balls — one over long-off and the other over cover — matching de Villiers' record. By the end of his innings, his strike rate was 305.26.

Forde scored a total of 58 runs off 19 balls, including two fours and eight sixes. That means 96.55% of his runs came from boundaries — the highest percentage of boundary runs in men’s ODI cricket innings with 50 or more runs. The previous record was held by Andre Fletcher, who scored 50 of his 52 runs in boundaries against Bangladesh in 2009 (96.15%).

This powerful innings helped West Indies reach a massive total of 352 for 8 in their 50 overs, which is one of their highest ODI scores against Ireland.

Top Six Fastest Half-Centuries in ODI Cricket

• AB de Villiers (South Africa) – 16 balls
• Matthew Forde (West Indies) – 16 balls
• Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) – 17 balls
• Kushal Perera (Sri Lanka) – 17 balls
• Martin Guptill (New Zealand) – 17 balls
• Liam Livingstone (England) – 17 balls