Who is better, Van Niekerk or Benaud?
Dane van Niekerk leads with a GOAT score of 85.9 against 85.8 for Richie Benaud — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Van Niekerk vs Benaud
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Dane van Niekerk above Richie Benaud: 85.9 vs 85.8. Dane van Niekerk leads on Longevity, Statistics. Richie Benaud leads on Honours, Dominance.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
Van NiekerkWinner
85.9Van Niekerk wins: Longevity, Statistics
Benaud
85.8Benaud wins: Dominance, Honours
Candidates
Locked to CricketShareable URL · /compare/dane-van-niekerk-vs-richie-benaud
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇿🇦 Dane van Niekerk
85.9
Van Niekerk leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Dane van Niekerk
2. Richie Benaud
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. 🇦🇺 Richie Benaud5 years played · career day 1,826252 runs
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇿🇦 Dane van Niekerk5 years played · career day 1,825108 runs
-57.1% vs Benaud at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇿🇦 Van Niekerk | 0 | 0 | 12 | 30 | 108 | 252 |
| 🇦🇺 Benaud | 0 | 0 | 35 | 78 | 186 | 590 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 year periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | Van NiekerkRetired | BenaudRetired |
|---|---|---|
| ODI wickets | 100 | — |
| T20I wickets | 68 | — |
| ODI runs | 2,000 | — |
| Matches as captain | 100 | — |
| Best T20I figures | 4 | — |
| Test wickets | — | 248 |
| Test runs | — | 2,201 |
| Tests as captain | — | 28 |
| Series lost as captain | — | 0 |
| Five-wicket hauls | — | 16 |
| Dominance w25% | 82 | 84 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 84 | 80 |
| Honours w20% | 82 | 86 |
| Statistics w15% | 92 | 88 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Van Niekerk85.9
Benaud85.8
FAQ
Where does Benaud beat Van Niekerk?
Benaud scores higher on dominance, honours. Van Niekerk leads on statistics, longevity.
How is the Van Niekerk vs Benaud score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Van Niekerk: 85.9, Benaud: 85.8.
What do you think?
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