Top 10 greatest upsets in ODI cricket

Upsets, however shocking and unexpected they may be, occur in all sports with varying frequency.

In tennis, former US Open champion Samantha Stosur recently crashed out in the first round of the ongoing Grand Slam event, losing to a little-known 17-year old American qualifier who had made only one other major appearance in the 2011 edition.

The defeat was as unexpected as the senior Indian cricket team losing to Afghanistan. It also highlighted the uncertainty that defines any sport around the world.

Cricket, too, has seen its share of – for lack of a better word – upsets. Lesser-known teams have been known to stun the established performers more than once, and this trait has occurred quite a few times in recent years.

Here is a list of the top ten greatest upsets in ODI cricket:

10. Zimbabwe vs England (Albury, Benson & Hedges World Cup 1992)

1992: Eddo Brandes of Zimbabwe dismisses Graham Hick of England during a World Cup match

In a low-scoring game at Albury, Zimbabwe pulled off a shocking upset when they beat favourites England by nine runs in a World Cup game at Albury in 1992. Prior to this, England had only lost one out of six games, while Zimbabwe had suffered defeats against Sri Lanka and India.

Graham Gooch won the toss and sent the African nation in to bat first. The pitch kept low and offered variable bounce, allowing pacer Ian Botham and left-arm spinner Richard Illingworth to share six Zimbabwean wickets between them. Only skipper Dave Houghton and Iain Butchart scored above 20 as Zimbabwe were skittled out for 134.

Eddo Brandes, a chicken farmer who was in the side as a pace bowler and had been erratic throughout the tournament, responded with a splendid four-wicket haul – dismissing Gooch for a golden duck, having Lamb caught by Wayne James, and castling both Robin Smith as well as Graeme Hick – to bring his side back into the contest. Fairbrother and Alec Stewart added 52, but Ali Shah removed the latter to end the stand.

Fairbrother fell soon after to Butchart, who also scalped Phil DeFreitas, and Malcolm Jarvis secured the win when he dismissed Gladstone Small, with England collapsing for 125. Brandes won the Man of the Match award for his 4/21, keeping his side alive in the tournament.

9. Kenya vs Sri Lanka (Nairobi – 2003 World Cup)

Collins Obuya

In one of the more stirring incidents of the 2003 edition of the World Cup, Kenya crushed Sri Lanka by 53 runs as they went on to reach the semi-finals of the quadrennial event for the first time.

After SL captain Jayasuriya won the toss and invited the Africans to bat, Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan wrecked the batting line-up as they shared seven of the nine wickets to fall; only Kennedy Otieno showed some fight with a courageous 60 from 88 balls. Kenya finished with 210 in their full quota of 50 overs.

In reply, leg-spinning all-rounder Collins Obuya destroyed the Lankans with a superb five-wicket haul – notably dismissing Jayawardene, Aravinda de Silva, Sangakkara and Hashan Tillakaratne – as Kenya restricted the Lankans to 157, with de Silva top-scoring with 41. Obuya took home the Player of the Match award for his fine bowling efforts.

8. Zimbabwe vs Australia (Trent Bridge – 1983 World Cup)

Cricket World Cup 1983, Australia v Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge: Duncan Fletcher hits Jeff Thomson on his way to 69

Zimbabwe stunned the cricketing world for the first time when they defeated a powerful Australian side in the 1983 World Cup by 13 runs at Trent Bridge. Not many gave them a chance after Australian skipper Kim Hughes won the toss and chose to field first.

Very quickly, Zimbabwe were in deep trouble at 94/5, with Dennis Lillee, Graham Yallop and Allan Border taking those wickets. But skipper Duncan Fletcher led from the front with an unbeaten 69, forging useful partnerships with the tail, and steered his side to a respectable 239.

In the chase, left-hander Kepler Wessels top scored with 76, but Australia soon fell behind the run rate, and could manage to score only 226/7 thanks to a hard-hitting 42-ball half century from wicket-keeper Rodney Marsh. Fletcher took four wickets and was adjudged the Man of the Match – incidentally, he embarked on a long coaching spell in South Africa and is the current coach of the Indian team, while Wessels led South Africa in the 1992 World Cup where they beat Australia at Sydney.

7. Bangladesh vs Pakistan (Northampton – 1999 World Cup)

The Bangladesh fans gather on the pitch after Bangladesh win the Cricket World Cup Group B match against Pakistan played in Northampton, England. Bangladesh won the game by 62 runs.

Pakistan suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of minnows Bangladesh during the 1999 World Cup in England – they would suffer a worse one at the hands of Australia in the final of the tournament.

Put into bat by Wasim Akram, Bangladesh struggled against the wiles of off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who took 5/35 in a fine spell; only Akram Khan managed to post a decent score, making 42 runs off 66 balls. The minnows posted 223/9 in 50 overs.

The 1992 World Cup winners lost wickets at regular intervals – Ijaz Ahmed fell for a duck – with only Azhar Mahmood and Wasim making identical scores of 29 and Saqlain’s 21 down the order pushed the total to 161, losing by 62 runs.

6. Ireland vs Pakistan (Kingston – 2007 World Cup)

Irish cricketers and their fans celebrate their victory over Pakistan at the end of the Group D match of the ICC World Cup 2007 between Ireland and Pakistan at the Sabina Park Cricket Ground in Kingston

As if the loss to Bangladesh wasn’t humiliating enough, the Pakistan team suffered another embarrassing reverse against another set of ODI minnows – Ireland. They once again collapsed to 132 all out – exactly the same score they posted against Australia in the final of the event eight years ago.

Pacer Boyd Rankin was the pick of the Irish bowlers with 3/32 from his nine overs, while Andre Botha proved to be very unplayable – finishing with figures of 8-4-5-2. Kamran Akmal (27) and opener Imran Nazir (24) provided the only decent scores with the bat.

Ireland, in response, fell to 62/3 – Eoin Morgan making only 2 – but Niall O’Brien allayed their fears with a resolute innings of 72, studded with six boundaries and a towering six. Though he fell with his side 25 runs short, his brother Kevin rounded off the win in the company of skipper Trent Johnston – capping a memorable St Patrick’s Day for the Shamrocks, while Pakistan exited the tournament in shame.

5. Ireland vs England (Bangalore – 2011 World Cup)

John Mooney of Ireland celebrates after scoring the winning runs during the 2011 ICC World Cup Group B match between England and Ireland

The performances of three key English batsmen were overshadowed by a purple-haired Irish lad as the Shamrocks chased down the Lions’ mammoth total with five balls to spare on 2 March 2011 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

Batting first, England piled up 327/8 in 50 overs, riding on contributions from Jonathan Trott (92), Ian Bell (81) and Kevin Pietersen (59). Irish bowler John Mooney took 4/63 in his 10 overs.

But the stockily-built Kevin O’Brien launched a one-man assault on the English bowlers, attacking them relentlessly and sending the ball to all parts of the ground. He belted 113 runs off just 63 balls – the fastest century in World Cup history – with 13 fours and six magnificent sixes. Though he was run-out towards the end, he ended up on the winning side after Mooney and former captain Johnston took Ireland home in the final over, causing the World Cup’s biggest upset yet.

4. Bangladesh vs India (Port of Spain – 2007 World Cup)

Bangladeshi Cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim (L) celebrates his team’s victory over India as Indian Cricketer Munaf Patel (R) looks on, following their group stage match at the Queen’s Park Oval stadium in Port of Spain,Trinidad and Tobago

This defeat still rankles hundreds of Indian cricket fans – even more than Javed Miandad’s last-ball six off Chetan Sharma. It also brought to the fore simmering issues between coach Greg Chappell and some of the senior players in the Indian team.

Choosing to bat first after winning the toss, skipper Rahul Dravid was made to rue his decision when Bangladesh pacer Mashrafe Mortaza wrecked the batting line up in style, grabbing 4/38, while the spinners choked the flow of runs, forcing the Indians to play their shots. Southpaws Sourav Ganguly (66) and Yuvraj Singh (47) were the chief scorers for India, and a 32-run last-wicket partnership enabled them to reach 191.

Any hopes of early wickets went down the drain as Tamim Iqbal launched a scathing attack on the Indian bowling, smashing 7 fours and two sixes in a quickfire 51. Shakib al-Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim then joined hands for a match-winning 84-run stand, before the Bangladeshi wicket-keeper smashed Munaf Patel through the covers for the winning boundary to trigger wild celebrations at the Queen’s Park Oval.

3. Bangladesh vs Australia (Cardiff – 2005)

Mohammad Ashraful of Bangladesh celebrates his century as Ricky Ponting of Australia looks on during the NatWest Series One Day International between Australia and Bangladesh played at Sophia Gardens

Damien Martyn and Michael Clarke scored resolute half-centuries and added 108 runs for the fourth wicket as Australia suffered an initial collapse in the face of hostile bowling from Bangla pacers Mashrafe Mortaza and Tapash Baisya during the second match of the 2005 NatWest Series at Cardiff.

Mike Hussey and Simon Katich’s unbroken 66-run stand for the sixth wicket enabled Australia to reach 249, after which pacers Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie made early inroads into the Bangladesh line-up.

But Mohammad Ashraful hammered a glorious hundred – his first in ODI cricket – as he dismantled the Aussie bowling with his excellent placements and well-timed shots. He added 130 with skipper Habibul Bashar before both batsmen fell in quick succession; however, Aftab Ahmed and Mohammad Rafique kept their nerves, and Bangladesh scampered home in the final over, shocking the world champions.

2. Kenya vs West Indies (Pune- 1996 World Cup)

File photo of Maurice Odumbe

The unheralded Kenyans pulled off the World Cup’s biggest upset when they humbled the mighty West Indies at Pune. They set a target of 167 after Courtney Walsh and Roger Harper demolished the African line-up, with Steve Tikolo and Hitesh Modi being the top scorers.

Rajab Ali, the right-arm fast bowler, maintained a wonderful line and length as he troubled the Caribbean kings with his immaculate accuracy. He picked up the wickets of Richie Richardson and Brian Lara before ending the innings by castling last man Cameron Cuffy, as the West Indies were all out for 93 – only Shivnarine Chanderpaul offered the most resistance with 19, along with Harper (17). Kenya’s captain Maurice Odumbe also bagged three wickets to win the Man of the Match award.

The Windies would go on to the semi finals, while Kenya exited the tournament fairly early – but on a winning note.

1. India vs West Indies (Lord’s – 1983 World Cup)

Kapil Dev and co. stunned West Indies to lift their first World Cup in 1983

No one ever gives the underdog a chance – especially when the opponent is a two-time winner of the World Cup, and boasts one of the finest pace attacks in the world, along with the greatest batsman in ODI cricket.

But India stunned the entire cricketing fraternity – and defending champions the West Indies – as they responded to the challenge magnificently. Bowled out for a paltry 183, with Roberts, Garner and Gomes among the wickets, it was widely believed that they did not stand a chance.

Such thoughts gained more credence when Viv Richards strode out into the middle and proceeded to send all the bowlers on a leather hunt in his own aggressive manner. At 57/2, it looked like the Caribbean side would complete their hat-trick of World titles.

But Indian skipper Kapil Dev took a blinder of a catch, running backwards from mid-on, eyes fixed on the ball that Richards had top-edged off Madan Lal, and he pouched the red cherry comfortably in the end. The whole Windies contingent was shocked into silence; Richards himself was astounded, but he had no choice other than to walk back to the pavilion.

With their best batsman out, the West Indies panicked, and India capitalized on it. Mohinder Amarnath ended whatever semblance of a fight they had left by removing Jeff Dujon, Malcolm Marshall and Michael Holding, as India skittled them out for 140, winning the title by 43 runs.