AB de Villiers became the first cricketer to score a half-century in 12 consecutive Tests

South African batsman AB de Villiers in February 2014 became the sole owner of a unique record for batting in Test cricket that has stood for almost four decades.

AB De Villiers’ record started on November 30, 2012 when he scored 169 at Perth to win the series for South Africa on tour to Australia.
Since then he has scored two fifties against New Zealand ;five half-centuries against Pakistan at home and on tour to United Arab Emirates ; two half centuries Vs India and two half centuries Vs Australia in Centurion and Port Elizabeth
Six out of those 12 fifties have been converted into tons.

	Mat	1st	2nd		Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date
	12	4	169		South Africa	v Australia	Perth	30 Nov 2012
		67	-		South Africa	v New Zealand	Cape Town	2 Jan 2013
		51	-		South Africa	v New Zealand	Port Elizabeth	11 Jan 2013
		31	103*		South Africa	v Pakistan	Johannesburg	1 Feb 2013
		61	36		South Africa	v Pakistan	Cape Town	14 Feb 2013
		121	-		South Africa	v Pakistan	Centurion	22 Feb 2013
		19	90		South Africa	v Pakistan	Abu Dhabi	14 Oct 2013
		164	-		South Africa	v Pakistan	Dubai (DSC)	23 Oct 2013
		13	103		South Africa	v India	Johannesburg	18 Dec 2013
		74	DNB		South Africa	v India	Durban	26 Dec 2013
		91	48		South Africa	v Australia	Centurion	12 Feb 2014
		116	29		South Africa	v Australia	Port Elizabeth	20 Feb 2014

Ab de Villiers eclipsed the previous record of 11 fifties shared by -

• Viv RichardsWest Indies)

		30	101		West Indies	v Australia	Adelaide	23 Jan 1976
		50	98		West Indies	v Australia	Melbourne	31 Jan 1976
		142	-		West Indies	v India	Bridgetown	10 Mar 1976
		130	20		West Indies	v India	Port of Spain	24 Mar 1976
		177	23		West Indies	v India	Port of Spain	7 Apr 1976
		64	DNB		West Indies	v India	Kingston	21 Apr 1976
		232	63		West Indies	v England	Nottingham	3 Jun 1976
		4	135		West Indies	v England	Manchester	8 Jul 1976
		66	38		West Indies	v England	Leeds	22 Jul 1976
		291	DNB		West Indies	v England	The Oval	12 Aug 1976
		32	92		West Indies	v Pakistan	Bridgetown	18 Feb 1977

• Virender Sehwag(India)

		16	51		India	v Sri Lanka	Ahmedabad	16 Nov 2009
		131	-		India	v Sri Lanka	Kanpur	24 Nov 2009
		293	-		India	v Sri Lanka	Mumbai (BS)	2 Dec 2009
		52	45		India	v Bangladesh	Chittagong	17 Jan 2010
		56	0*		India	v Bangladesh	Dhaka	24 Jan 2010
		109	16		India	v South Africa	Nagpur	6 Feb 2010
		165	-		India	v South Africa	Kolkata	14 Feb 2010
		109	31		India	v Sri Lanka	Galle	18 Jul 2010
		99	-		India	v Sri Lanka	Colombo (SSC)	26 Jul 2010
		109	0		India	v Sri Lanka	Colombo (PSS)	3 Aug 2010
		59	17		India	v Australia	Mohali	1 Oct 2010

• Gautam Gambhir(India)

	67	104		India	v Australia	Mohali		17 Oct 2008
		206	36		India	v Australia	Delhi	29 Oct 2008
		19	66		India	v England	Chennai	11 Dec 2008
		179	97		India	v England	Mohali	19 Dec 2008
		72	30*		India	v New Zealand	Hamilton	18 Mar 2009
		16	137		India	v New Zealand	Napier	26 Mar 2009
		23	167		India	v New Zealand	Wellington	3 Apr 2009
		1	114		India	v Sri Lanka	Ahmedabad	16 Nov 2009
		167	-		India	v Sri Lanka	Kanpur	24 Nov 2009
		23	116		India	v Bangladesh	Chittagong	17 Jan 2010
		68	0*		India	v Bangladesh	Dhaka	24 Jan 2010

When AB de Villiers passed 50 in the first innings of the second Test against Australia at St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth he became the first man in the history of the game to make a half-century in 12 consecutive Tests.
AB de Villiers was eventually out for 116 shorlty after lunch on caught and bowled after a rare misjudgement against the spin of Nathan Lyon.