Fastest First-Class Fifties, Full List: New Zealand Seamer Breaks National Record

New Zealand's Scott Kuggeleijn plays a shot during day four of the 1st International cricket Test match between New Zealand and Australia at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on March 3, 2024

Northern Districts’ Scott Kuggeleijn has broken the record for the fastest fifty in New Zealand’s first-class history, reaching the milestone in just 19 balls against Otago during the final round of the 2024-25 Plunket Shield in Dunedin.

Opening the innings for the first time with captain Jeet Raval, Kuggeleijn smashed a 26-ball 71 to consolidate ND’s position in the match. The discarded New Zealand seamer hit the fourth ball from Matthew Bacon for a six before teeing off in the seamer’s next over, where he smashed him for two sixes and as many fours. Kuggeleijn reached his fifty off 19 balls after launching pacer Andrew Hazeldine for a six in the sixth over.

ND declared their second innings for 140-2, setting up a 407-run target for Otago to win. This was also Kuggeleijn's second half-century of the match, having smashed an unbeaten 53 off 32 balls from No.7 in ND's first innings (411-7 d).

Who holds the record for the fastest first-class fifty?

Kuggeleijn’s 19-ball fifty is now the fastest by a New Zealand batter in first-class cricket, surpassing the previous record held by former all-rounder Andre Adams. Adams had scored a 20-ball fifty on his first-class debut for Auckland against Otago in 1997-98.

Wayne White holds the overall record for the fastest fifty in first-class cricket, having reached the milestone in just 12 balls for Leicestershire against Essex in 2012.

Fastest fifties in first-class matches

Balls faced	Player	Team	Opposition	Venue	Year
12	Wayne White	Leicestershire	Essex	Grace Road, Leicester	2012
13	Michael van Vuuren	Eastern Province B	Griqualand West	Standard Cricket Club Ground, Cradock	1984/85
14	Ned Eckersley	Leicestershire	Essex	Grace Road, Leicester	2012
15	Khalid Mahmood	Gujranwala	Sargodha	Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala	2000/01
15	Bandeep Singh	Jammu and Kashmir	Tripura	Tripura Institute of Technology, Agartala	2015/16
16	Tom Moody	Warwickshire	Glamorgan	St Helen's, Swansea	1990
16	Gary Yates	Lancashire	Glamorgan	Old Trafford, Manchester	1993
16	Glen Chapple	Lancashire	Glamorgan	Old Trafford, Manchester	1993
16	Mark Pettini	Essex	Leicestershire	Grace Road, Leicester	2006
16	Sanjaya Gangodawila	Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club	Ragama Cricket Club	Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club Ground, Colombo	2010/11
16	Pankaj Jaswal	Himachal Pradesh	Goa	Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala	2017/18
17	David Hookes	South Australia	Victoria	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	1982/83
17	Mark Ealham	Kent	Lancashire	Mote Park, Maidstone	1992
17	Suryakant Basudev Pradhan	Orissa	Haryana	Dhaneswar Rath Institute of Engineering and Management Sciences, Cuttack	2022/23
18	Rod Marsh	Western Australia	West Indians	Western Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth	1975/76
18	Shakti Singh	Himachal Pradesh	Haryana	Kangda Police Stadium, Dharamsala	1990/91
18	Yusuf Pathan	Baroda	Vidarbha	Moti Bagh Stadium, Vadodara	2012/13
18	Kevin Kasuza	Mountaineers	Southern Rocks	Mutare Sports Club, Mutare	2012/13
18	Jamie Overton	Somerset	Yorkshire	County Ground, Taunton	2015
18	Akash Deep	Bengal	Jharkhand	Just Cricket Academy Ground, Bangalore	2022
19	Norman Cowans	Middlesex	Surrey	Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood	1984
19	Matthew Maynard	Glamorgan	Yorkshire	Sophia Gardens, Cardiff	1987
19	Sam Skeete	Eastern Transvaal	Boland B	Brackenfell Sports Fields, Brackenfell	1994/95
19	Arif Mahmood	Karachi Whites	Dadu	Quaid-e-Azam Park, Karachi	2002/03
19	Rob Nicol	Gloucestershire	Yorkshire	North Marine Road, Scarborough	2012
19	Sekkuge Prasanna	Sri Lanka Army Sports Club	Sinhalese Sports Club	FTZ Sports Complex (Board of Investment), Katunayake	2014/15
19	Ramith Rambukwella	Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club	Sinhalese Sports Club	Moors Sports Club Ground, Colombo	2015/16
19	Riyan Parag	Assam	Hyderabad	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad	2022/23
19	Jagjit Singh	Chandigarh	Saurashtra	Government Model Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh	2024/25
19	Ian Bishop	West Indies Academy	Barbados	Kensington Oval, Bridgetown	2024/25
19	Scott Kuggeleijn	Northern Districts	Otago	University of Otago Ova, Dunedin	2024/2025
20	Vinod Kambli	Bombay	Baroda	Wankhede Stadium, Bombay	1992/93
20	Andre Adams	Auckland	Otago	Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland	1997/98
20	Stuart Matsikenyeri	Zimbabwe Provinces	North West	Sedgars Park, Potchefstroom	2007/08
20	Lendl Simmons	Trinidad and Tobago	Barbados	Kensington Oval, Bridgetown	2011/12
20	Lendl Simmons	Trinidad and Tobago	Barbados	Kensington Oval, Bridgetown	2012/13
20	Rory Kleinveldt	Northamptonshire	Derbyshire	County Ground, Northampton	2016
20	Rishabh Pant	Delhi	Jharkhand	St Xavier's College Ground, Thumba	2016/17
20	Sharafuddin Ashraf	Amo Region	Speen Ghar Region	Ghazi Amanullah Khan International Cricket Stadium, Ghazi Amanullah Khan Town	2017/18
20	Suryakant Basudev Pradhan	Orissa	Rajasthan	Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Ground, Bhubaneswar	2018/19
20	Phaphama Fojela	Border	Northerns	Tshwane University of Technology Oval, Pretoria	2019/20
20	Sachitha Jayathilake	Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club	Burgher Recreation Club	Burgher Recreation Club Ground, Colombo	2022/23
20	Narayan Jagadeesan	Tamil Nadu	Hyderabad	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad	2022/23
20	Toby Roland-Jones	Middlesex	Leicestershire	Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester	2024

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