| Batsman | Balls to fifty (50) | Final score | For v against | Venue | Date |
| AB de Villiers | 16 | 149 | SA v WI | Johannesburg | 18-1-2015 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya | 17 | 76 | SL v PAK | Singapore | 7-4-1996 |
| Kusal Perera | 17 | 68 | SL v PAK | Pallekele | 15-7-2015 |
| Martin Guptill | 17 | 93 | NZ v SL | Christchurch | 28-12-2015 |
| Simon O’Donnell | 18 | 74 | AUS v SL | Sharjah | 2-5-1990 |
| Shahid Afridi | 18 | 102 | PAK v SL | Nairobi | 4-10-1996 |
| Shahid Afridi | 18 | 55* | PAK v NED | Colombo | 21-9-2002 |
| GJ Maxwell | 18 | 60 | AUS v IND | Bangalore | 2-11-2013 |
| Shahid Afridi | 18 | 59 | PAK v BAN | Mirpur | 4-3-2014 |
| Brendon McCullum | 18 | 77 | NZ v ENG | Wellington | 20-2-2015 |
| Aaron Finch | 18 | 55 | AUS v SL | Dambulla | 31-8-2016 |
| C Gayle | 19 | 77 | WI v ENG | Grenada | 02-03-2019 |
| Mark Boucher | 19 | 51* | SA v KEN | Cape Town | 22-10-2001 |
| Justin Kemp | 19 | 53* | SA v ZIM | Durban | 27-2-2005 |
| Brendon McCullum | 19 | 80* | NZ v BAN | Queenstown | 31-12-2007 |
| Ross Taylor | 19 | 59* | NZ v IRE | Aberdeen | 1-7-2008 |
| David Hussey | 19 | 52 | AUS v WI | St Kitts | 6-7-2008 |
| Shahid Afridi | 19 | 65 | PAK v NZ | Christchurch | 29-1-2011 |
| Brendon McCullum | 19 | 51 | NZ v SL | Christchurch | 11-1-2015 |
| Shahid Afridi | 20 | 102 | PAK v IND | Kanpur | 15-4-2005 |
| Shahid Afridi | 20 | 77* | PAK v SA | Durban | 7-2-2007 |
| Brendon McCullum | 20 | 52 | NZ v CAN | St Lucia | 22-3-2007 |
| Darren Sammy | 20 | 58* | WI v SA | Antigua | 24-5-2010 |
| Richie Berrington | 20 | 56 | SCO v IRE | Edinburgh | 12-7-2011 |
| Corey Anderson | 20 | 131* | NZ v WI | Queenstown | 1-1-2014 |
| Angelo Mathews | 20 | 51 | SL v SCO | Hobart | 11-3-2015 |
| Lance Cairns | 21 | 52 | NZ v AUS | Melbourne | 13-2-1983 |
| Ajit Agarkar | 21 | 67* | IND v ZIM | Rajkot | 14-12-2000 |
| Douglas Marillier | 21 | 56* | ZIM v IND | Faridabad | 7-3-2002 |
| Craig McMillan | 21 | 64* | NZ v USA | The Oval | 10-9-2004 |
| Shahid Afridi | 21 | 58 | PAK v ZIM | Multan | 30-9-2004 |
| Mohammad Ashraful | 21 | 94 | BAN v ENG | Nottingham | 21-6-2005 |
| Brendon McCullum | 21 | 51 | NZ v ZIM | Bulawayo | 24-8-2005 |
| Mark Boucher | 21 | 75 | SA v NED | St Kitts | 16-3-2007 |
| Abdur Razzaq | 21 | 53* | BAN v ZIM | Bulawayo | 5-5-2013 |
| Shahid Afridi | 21 | 55 | PAK v NZ | Sharjah | 14-12-2014 |
| Shahid Afridi | 21 | 67 | PAK v NZ | Wellington | 31-1-2015 |
| Brendon McCullum | 21 | 50 | NZ v AUS | Auckland | 28-2-2015 |
| Glenn Maxwell | 21 | 88 | AUS v AFG | Perth | 4-3-2015 |
| Farhaan Behardien | 21 | 50 | SA v IRE | Benoni | 25-9-2016 |
| Kapil Dev | 22 | 72 | IND v WI | Berbice | 29-3-1983 |
| Virender Sehwag | 22 | 55* | IND v KEN | Paarl | 24-10-2001 |
| Damien Martyn | 22 | 92* | AUS v BAN | Cairns | 3-8-2003 |
| Rahul Dravid | 22 | 50* | IND v NZ | Hyderabad | 15-11-2003 |
| Yuvraj Singh | 22 | 69 | IND v BAN | Dhaka | 27-12-2004 |
| Abdul Razzaq | 22 | 51* | PAK v ENG | Karachi | 15-12-2005 |
| Mark Boucher | 22 | 52 | SA v WI | Grenada | 10-4-2007 |
| Shahid Afridi | 22 | 73* | PAK v SL | Abu Dhabi | 18-5-2007 |
| Luke Ronchi | 22 | 64 | AUS v WI | St Kitts | 6-7-2008 |
| Elton Chigumbura | 22 | 68 | ZIM v KEN | Mombasa | 29-1-2009 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | 22 | 52 | SL v AUS | Sydney | 8-3-2015 |
| Brendon McCullum | 22 | 59 | NZ v SA | Auckland | 24-3-2015 |
| Jos Buttler | 22 | 90* | ENG v PAK | Nottingham | 30-8-2016 |
| Mohammad Amir | 22 | 58 | PAK v ENG | Nottingham | 30-8-2016 |
| Saleem Malik | 23 | 72* | PAK v IND | Calcutta | 18-2-1987 |
| Brian Lara | 23 | 73 | WI v CAN | Centurion | 23-2-2003 |
| Mohammad Yousuf | 23 | 76 | PAK v ZIM | Bulawayo | 24-11-2002 |
| Abdul Razzaq | 23 | 89 | PAK v NZ | Wellington | 17-1-2004 |
| John Davison | 23 | 52 | CAN v NZ | Gros Islet | 22-3-2007 |
| AB de Villiers | 23 | 54 | SA v BAN | Benoni | 9-11-2008 |
| Kieron Pollard | 23 | 60 | WI v NED | Delhi | 28-2-2011 |
| Jesse Ryder | 23 | 104 | NZ v WI | Queenstown | 1-1-2014 |
| Thisara Perera | 23 | 54 | SL v ENG | Colombo (RPS) | 16-12-2014 |
| Brendon McCullum | 23 | 55 | NZ v SL | Christchurch | 26-12-2015 |
| Seekkuge Prasanna | 23 | 95 | SL v IRE | Dublin (Malahide) | 18-6-2016 |
Secrets to scoring the fastest fifty in ODI:
- First and foremost, being a boundary-hitter
- A no-brainer: being able to hit fours and sixes from the get-go
- Ability to manipulate the field, though you don’t always have to be a 360-degree batsman
- Just have a bit of luck
Now, if you look at the above list of players who have hit the fastest fifties in ODI cricket, their strike rates tend to be above 100.00 or at least very close to it. And each one of them is a natural stroke-maker who plays his shots and boundary hitting was and is his forte. Shahid Afridi, unsurprisingly, appears the most number of times on this list.