South Africa chased down 434 runs against Australia in 2006, which, till date, remains the highest ever successful run chase in an One Day International. What if the Proteas had lost the match by 5-10 runs, though? It would still have been considered a great match, but would it have been the greatest, as is being referred to now?
The ODI match between India and Sri Lanka at Rajkot in 2009 falls in that category. India made 414-7, their highest total in ODIs at that point of time with the help of brilliant 146 off 102 balls from Sehwag and fifties from Sachin Tendulkar (69) and MS Dhoni(72). Sri Lanka made an amazing start with the openers Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan adding 188 for the first wicket, before Dilshan combined with Kumar Sangakkara to add 128 in just 75 balls for the 2nd wicket.
They were 316-1 at the end of 37th over and a win for them looked certain until India got back into it by taking 4 quick wickets. Dilshan (160 off 124) and Sangakkara (90 off 43) were the main contributors. Thilina Kadamby and Angelo Mathews added 56 runs for the sixth wicket to keep their team's hopes alive. Sri Lanka were well on the way to create history with just 15 required of 12 balls and 5 wickets in hand.
But India managed to restrict Sri Lanka to 411-8, to win the match by 3 runs. 411-8 is the highest ever runs scored in chasing for a losing cause. Here is the video of the thrilling finish.
