Craig Ervine sets record as oldest player to score a half-century in an ODI

Experienced Zimbabwean player Brendan Taylor set a historic record during a match against Australia. In the first ODI held on Tuesday in Harare, Taylor surpassed a significant world record held by the great Indian player Sachin Tendulkar.

Taylor is now the player with the longest career in men's ODI cricket. His ODI career has reached 22 years and 146 days. Previously, this record belonged to Sachin Tendulkar, whose ODI career lasted 22 years and 91 days, meaning Taylor surpassed his record by approximately 55 days.

Brendan Taylor debuted for Zimbabwe in ODIs in 2004 and has since become one of the team's most reliable batsmen. At 40 years old, Taylor has scored 11 centuries in 207 ODI matches, which is a national record for Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar debuted in ODIs in 1989 and retired from the format in 2012, having a career of 22 years and 91 days.

Despite breaking the career longevity record, Sachin Tendulkar holds other major records in ODI cricket. He is the batsman who has scored the most runs in ODIs, with a total of 18,426. Furthermore, Sachin played 463 matches in this format, significantly more than Brendan Taylor.

Although Taylor set the record for the longest service period, Sachin Tendulkar retains the title of the batsman with the most runs scored in ODIs, and also holds the record for the number of matches played in this format.

Brendan Taylor's history is unique not only because of this record. His sporting career was full of ups and downs. Taylor initially announced his retirement from international cricket in 2021. However, in 2022, he was found guilty of violating the ICC anti-doping and anti-corruption code and received a three-year ban.

After completing this suspension period, Taylor returned to international cricket in 2025. Zimbabwe is preparing for the joint 2027 ODI World Cup with South Africa and Namibia, and Taylor decided to rejoin the team as part of this preparation.

On Tuesday in Harare, Australia won the draw and decided to bat first. This match was the first ODI between the two teams in Zimbabwe in the last 12 years. There is also an interesting connection: Australian captain Mitchell Marsh is among the three players who participated in the previous ODI against Zimbabwe in 2014 and are now playing in this match again after 12 years.

Sachin Tendulkar, often called the god of cricket, set numerous significant records throughout his career. However, the story of his first century in the One Day International format is no less interesting. The player, who later amassed 49 centuries in ODIs, had to wait about five years and 78 matches before reaching his first hundred.

This day was September 9, 1994. On this day, 32 years ago, India and Australia faced each other in Colombo, Sri Lanka, as part of the Singer World Series. In this match, Sachin scored 110 runs off 130 balls against Australia.

His innings included 8 fours and 2 sixes. This marked his first ODI century. Sachin started his match partnering with Manoj Prabhakar, and later formed a partnership with Navjot Singh Sidhu and Mohammed Azharuddin. Thanks to Sachin's brilliant performance and quick 43 runs from Vinod Kambli, India scored 246 runs, defeating Australia by 8 wickets. The Australian team lost the match by 31 runs, despite Mark Waugh scoring 61 runs.

Before his first ODI century, Sachin had scored 2126 runs in 78 matches, with an average of 32.70 and 17 half-centuries. After achieving his first century, Sachin scored 16,300 runs and added another 48 centuries. His average also increased to 47.10. This is why the 110-run innings against Australia in Colombo is considered a turning point in his career.

Sachin Tendulkar made his international debut on November 15, 1989, in Karachi against Pakistan at the age of 16 years and 205 days. In his first Test match, Sachin scored 15 runs off 24 balls, making two half-centuries in that tour. His first Test century was achieved in 1990 in the ninth match against England at Old Trafford in Manchester, where he played an innings of 119 runs off 189 balls.

Throughout his impressive 24-year career, Sachin Tendulkar played 664 matches, accumulating 34,357 international runs.

Test Cricket:

Matches: 200

Innings: 329

Runs: 15,921

Average: 53.78

Centuries: 51

Half-centuries: 68

Highest Score: 248*

ODI Cricket:

Matches: 463

Innings: 452

Runs: 18,426

Average: 44.83

Centuries: 49

Half-centuries: 96

Highest Score: 200*

T20I:

Matches: 1

Runs: 10

Average: 10.00

Highest Score: 10