Who is better, Van Niekerk or Bradman?
Don Bradman leads with a GOAT score of 96.8 against 85.9 for Dane van Niekerk — a gap of 10.9 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Van Niekerk vs Bradman
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Don Bradman above Dane van Niekerk: 96.8 vs 85.9. Don Bradman leads on Dominance, Honours, Peak.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
BradmanWinner
96.8Bradman wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Van Niekerk
85.9Van Niekerk wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to CricketShareable URL · /compare/dane-van-niekerk-vs-don-bradman
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇦🇺 Don Bradman
96.8
Bradman leads in 5 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Don Bradman
2. Dane van Niekerk
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through year 5 · Form index per season1. 🇦🇺 Don Bradman5 years played · career day 2,191505 runs
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇿🇦 Dane van Niekerk5 years played · career day 1,825108 runs
-78.6% vs Bradman at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇿🇦 Van Niekerk | 0 | 0 | 12 | 30 | 108 | 252 |
| 🇦🇺 Bradman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 395 | 803 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 year periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | Van NiekerkRetired | BradmanRetired |
|---|---|---|
| ODI wickets | 100 | — |
| T20I wickets | 68 | — |
| ODI runs | 2,000 | — |
| Matches as captain | 100 | — |
| Best T20I figures | 4 | — |
| Test batting average | — | 99.94 |
| Test centuries | — | 29 |
| Test runs | — | 6,996 |
| Test double centuries | — | 12 |
| Ashes series won as captain | — | 4 |
| Dominance w25% | 82 | 100 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 100 |
| Longevity w20% | 84 | 88 |
| Honours w20% | 82 | 96 |
| Statistics w15% | 92 | 100 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Bradman96.8
Van Niekerk85.9
FAQ
Where does Van Niekerk beat Bradman?
Van Niekerk does not lead any of the five categories; Bradman is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the Van Niekerk vs Bradman score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Van Niekerk: 85.9, Bradman: 96.8.
What do you think?
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